


Reset

by FirebreathFishslap



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Both Protagonists, Gen, Series Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 11:53:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 103,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6517591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FirebreathFishslap/pseuds/FirebreathFishslap
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In 2010, Minato Arisato died to save the world. Now it's 2009 and he's alive again, but this time things are different. For one, who's Hamuko Arisato and when did she become the leader of SEES?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - April 6th

**Author's Note:**

> "Reset" has been a personal project of mine since 2010, and has been steadily updated ever since then. While I originally exclusively uploaded it on Fanfiction.net, I've decided to rehost it onto AO3 so it can reach a wider reader base than it currently is.
> 
> I've been writing this fic for a LONG time, and while I've enjoyed writing it, my writing style has changed a lot since I first started. In particular, most of the earlier chapters include long sections that are almost entirely cribbed from the original game script, something I try to avoid doing now. I've got plans to go back and rewrite most of the earlier chapters, but I haven't gone back and done so on most of them yet. Please bear with me on that front. ;-;
> 
> While I'm going to be hosting it on here as well, I still plan on primarily updating on fanfiction.net, and updates on AO3 may end up being a few days later. So please follow me over there if you like what you see! https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6370401/1/Reset

**Tatsumi Port Island, Tokyo, Japan  
April 6** **th** **, 2009, Dark Hour**

The streets of Port Island were eerily silent under the yellow colored moon. A green glow had enveloped the world, as it did every night at midnight. Akihiko Sanada didn't mind the odd atmosphere, though. For him, it just gave him an excuse to fight. Events lately had given him more of a reason to go out on patrol. Strange cases of Apathy syndrome were popping up everywhere, and Akihiko knew that meant Shadows were wandering about. Mitsuru didn't argue most of the time, though she did seem to disagree with the fact he was going on patrol so close to the end of the week long break.

He stood down the road from what had been his school and looked up at the large tower that stood there now. He hadn't thought he'd wandered so close to Tartarus in his patrol. It was odd, though… usually there were at least a few stray Shadows wandering around Tartarus, but he hadn't seen a single one this night. Maybe he should just go home now and try again another time.

A series of sudden whispers rang around Akihiko, and a smirk spread across his face. That was the call of a Shadow for sure. He couldn't see Mitsuru being very happy with him for running to Tartarus when he was alone, but there was ass to be kicked. Upon running to the tower, he found that the school gates were unlocked, which was strange in itself, and that there were no Shadows to be seen. Instead, there was a person lying in the middle of the courtyard. Not a coffin, but an actual person. The collapsed teenager had blue hair and wore a Gekkoukan uniform, both rather strange traits. While blue wasn't a particularly rare hair color, it was definitely an odd one. The fact that he was wearing a uniform now felt rather out of place as well.

Akihiko drew his Evoker and carefully walked over to the teenager. There was always the possibility this was some kind of trap, and he didn't quite feel like being ambushed by a bunch of Shadows. He knelt down by the collapsed teenager, and noted with a bit of horror that he wasn't moving. Or breathing. Was he dead? He was certainly pale enough to be. Akihiko gingerly reached a hand out and shook his shoulder. The teenager gave a jolt and groaned. The color returned to the teenager's face, and he began to wheeze for breath.

The teenager's eyes fluttered open. He sat up and looked up at Akihiko's face. His eyes widened and he jerked his head toward his hands, and then back up at Akihiko. "…A-Akihiko? What am I…" He looked around at Tartarus and the surrounding courtyard. His body wavered as he moved, and he was rather obviously dizzy. "Where am I...? Why… Why am I alive?! Where's Aigis?! What's going on!?"

 _He's definitely experiencing the Dark Hour… The Shadows would have gotten to him by now if he didn't have the Potential, so he's definitely a Persona user,_ Akihiko thought to himself. "Sorry, I don't think I know you. What are you doing around here, anyways?"

"H-How do you not know who I am?" The blue-haired teenager only appeared to become even more panicked by Akihiko's words. "Don't tell me you've forgotten… ugh…" He wavered once more and pressed his hands against the ground to support him. He gave a retch, and Akihiko stood up and moved back from him in time to dodge the vomit that had just poured from the teenager's mouth.

"You alright?"

"I don't feel very good…"

Akihiko suddenly realized he recognized this person. This was one of the new second year students that had moved into the boys dorms recently. "You're Minato Arisato, right? What were you doing wandering around during the Dark Hour?"

"Why do you remember my name but not me?" The teenager, who was evidentially Minato, asked. The Dark Hour was making him delirious. Well, it did tend to have that kind of effect on people who weren't used to it yet. He seemed rather convinced they knew each other well, despite the fact that Akihiko had only seen him during those few visits he'd made to the boys dorm over the past week. Every time Akihiko had seen him, he'd always been listening to his headphones and not really paying attention to anyone else. They'd never talked.

Akihiko bent down and put Minato's arm around his shoulder, taking care not to step in the disgustingly fragrant vomit as he did so. He pulled Minato to his feet, grunting from the effort. "Geez, you're heavier than you look. Come on, I'll help you back to your dorm." The two of them began to walk away from Tartarus and down the street.

The ground where Minato had lain only a few moments before began to ripple outwards, almost like it was water and a stone had been dropped into it. A large, black cloaked figure burst free of the fluid ground and rose into the air. Several chains rose from epicenter of the distortion and wrapped around the being. It roared in anger and grasped the chains with its one free hand. With a strong tug, the chains shattered, allowing the cloaked being to fly free. A black, animal-like hand tore free from the distortion after the being, and the chains drew back around to restrain the hand. The animal-like hand sunk back into the ground, and the ground became solid once more.

The black cloaked being dropped the remnants of the chains upon the ground and stared up at Tartarus. It was free.

And yet, this entire world felt unnatural to it. This was not the world of its origin. Nothing in this world felt the same as the world the being originated from. Even the Tower of Demise resonated differently with the being. There was only one thing the being could feel that was the same, and that was the human that had hosted it for many years, who it could feel was being led away from the tower at this very moment.

A hand composed of nothing but a black gelatinous mass shot up from the ground. The black cloak flew away from the being as it reached for its sword and sliced the entire hand off. The hand went flying and fell to the ground, where it squirmed and twitched grotesquely before dissolving into a black ichor. The being did not have long to rest before more and more hands reached up from the ground, clawing at the being's body. Some of the hands were armed with blades, which the being had to counter with its own blade. Finally, it spotted what it had been looking for. One hand that had been clearly staying out of the fight was holding up a Magician Arcana mask. It moved forward at a speed that tore the hands grasping him from their arms and sliced the Magician's mask down the middle. The mask fell to the ground and lay there while the hands around it dissipated. The being stood there, waiting for the inevitable joining of the energies.

It didn't happen. The cleaved halves of the mask joined together, leaving no evidence of damage.

_You are not the one we belong to. We were mistaken._

The sword wielding being snarled and brought a foot down upon the mask, which dissolved into a black mist before its foot could touch it. A taunting laugh emanated from around the being, and it had to take great care not to allow these unnatural fragments of itself to bother it. It was clear from what Magician had said that even this world's Arcana Shadows were unnatural to Death. It was impossible for it to absorb its fragments in this world, and thus impossible for it to connect with its mother. The reason why became apparent to the being as it realized what it had been sensing since it appeared in this world. There was another Death, a much weaker one, far from here. The fact that this unnatural Death existed in this world meant that this world's Fall was proceeding, but somehow the being could sense that compared to him, even this world's Nyx was lacking.

Death's body shuddered before dissolving into a black mist. The mist rose into the air and began to move in the direction its former host had gone. All it could do was observe. It was no longer tied to its former host, and staying in Tartarus had become impossible. The Shadows within would not care that it was the most powerful of their kind; it was not of their world and thus unnatural to them. They would attack and overwhelm it the moment it stepped inside. The mist passed over the bay and the buildings of Iwatodai City, finally coming across the two human figures it had been searching for. They stood in front of a large dormitory, the words "Gekkoukan High School Men's Dorm" written on a sign attached to the outer wall of the building.

"…Well, this is where I leave you. You can get back to your room on your own, right?"

"…yeah."

"I don't really have time to explain everything to you, and you look too out of it to listen anyways. So I'll come back tomorrow."

"…Okay."

The silver haired teenager walked away, leaving the being's former host alone on the steps of the dormitory. The blue haired teenager turned to walk up the steps, and just as it turned to do so, the black mist sunk into his shadow. The blue haired teenager did not notice the mist sinking into his shadow. In fact, it would be a very long time before anyone realized that a Shadow had tied itself to Minato, and by the time they did realize, it would be far too late to change his fate.

In the moments before the Dark Hour ended, a blue butterfly landed upon a streetlamp. The insect remained there until the unearthly mist lifted from the world and time unfroze, at which time it fluttered away.

* * *

**11:52 PM, April 7** **th** **, 2009**

The monorail sped down the tracks toward Iwatodai City with its few passengers. The late night monorail primarily carried businessmen on their way home from work, so the teenage girl riding on the train was a bit of an out of place feature. She sat in a seat by herself, listening to music through a pair of odd clip-on headphones.

" _Been a little while but I'm still battling moving fast while you's just prattling no time for me—"_

Hamuko Arisato hit a button on her MP3 player, and the song changed.

_"Dreamless dorm, ticking clock, I walk away from the soundless room…"_

She sighed and leaned back in her seat. It had been a very long ride from Chiba to Iwatodai. In the ten years that had passed since the accident that had claimed her parents' lives, she had moved from city to city, being shifted from relative to relative. By now, she had become used to being transferred from school to school at least once a year. The reasons for being transferred had varied; sometimes it was a relative getting transferred to another location, other times they just couldn't handle her being at their house anymore.

There actually hadn't been plans for her to transfer to Gekkoukan this year. It was a rather well known and _expensive_ school in Iwatodai, and most students only _dreamed_ of being able to go there. She must have done something to get in. She had been top of her class at her last school, so that must have counted for something.

Despite the fact that she'd been born there, Hamuko couldn't remember much of anything about the city. Well, it had been ten years since she'd last been there, so it was probably natural that she couldn't remember much of anything.

Hamuko turned her head toward the window. There was a blue butterfly flying by the monorail, somehow managing to stay in flight despite the slipstream. It remained in the air long enough for her to notice it before dropping out of sight. Well, that had been odd.

" _Attention passengers. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by the delay. Next stop is Iwatodai. I repeat, the next stop is Iwatodai."_

The train rolled to a stop at the Iwatodai station, and Hamuko stood up. She walked out into the station and looked up at the clock. It was nearly midnight.

A few seconds later, the music playing in her headphones came to an abrupt stop as the world shifted over to the Dark Hour.


	2. Minato Meets Hamuko

"Well, that should be all of it."

Minato Arisato stood in his dorm room's doorway, frowning at the all too familiar sight. The room was rather bare, with nothing adorning the walls, save a mirror and a sink to his left. Against the back wall was a single twin-sized bed and one television wired directly into the wall. It was a room Minato knew all too well. He turned back toward the silver haired teenager to his side.

"Thanks for helping me move all of this," Minato said. He knew the silver haired teenager all too well, too, even though as far as Akihiko knew, they had just met.

"Heh, no problem. Mitsuru's downstairs, so ask her if you need anything," Akihiko said. He closed the door behind him, leaving Minato alone in the empty room with his bags on the floor and nothing else. He sighed and walked over to the bed before sitting down on it. The fact was, he shouldn't have even been alive. He'd _died_. He'd fallen asleep in the arms of the robot girl who loved him and felt his heartbeats slow to a stop. There was no way they could have brought him back, even if they'd tried like Minato knew they had. His soul had left his body long ago. He'd been deader than dead.

So when he'd suddenly found himself passed out in front of Tartarus, he'd panicked a bit. Akihiko had been the one to find him, and he'd taken him to the boy's dorm. The date had been April 6th, 2009 when Akihiko found him, one day before Minato had arrived at the SEES dorm in his world. Somehow, he was back in April of 2009.

That wasn't the only difference. In this world, he had transferred to Gekkoukan High School very recently and had been staying in the boys' dorm. He was set to start his junior year at Gekkoukan tomorrow. After Akihiko found him passed out in front of "the school" (so Akihiko claimed, but Minato already knew it was Tartarus and that it had been the Dark Hour), arrangements had been made to move him to the co-ed dorm. Mitsuru had given some bullshit explanation for why, but Minato hadn't really cared, and only listened closely enough so he could regurgitate her explanation if he was asked.

Honestly, he thought he was taking all of this really well. After all, he'd just _died_ and come back in another world, where the worst year of his life and the _last_ year of his life was about to start up again, and he was the only one who knew anything about what was going to happen.

 _I shouldn't be alive,_ Minato thought to himself. He lifted his headphones to his ears and switched on his MP3 player. Today was the 6th, so the full moon was in three days. The fact that he'd been in human form at all during the Dark Hour meant he had the Potential still in this world. He had to wonder if he still had Death sealed in him in this world too. Everything seemed almost the same so far, after all.

He yawned and rolled over onto his side. He was tired. He would be expected to unpack everything, but that could wait until tomorrow. He'd already spent a long time just sitting there, staring at the ceiling, and thinking about what the hell had happened to him.

Without even changing into his PJs, Minato closed his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

" _Who's there?!"_

_"Takeba, wait!"_

Minato's eyes fluttered open. He gave a groan and sat up. His head was spinning. He blinked and looked around at the room. The world was… green? There were patches of red across the floors and walls… Just the Dark Hour. And someone was yelling downstairs… That gave him a pause. He headed out the door just as the green faded and his MP3 player switched back on, the first few lines of the Burn My Dread chorus playing from the headphones no longer on Minato's ears.

He paused at the top of the stairs. He could hear three voices. One was definitely Mitsuru, another was likely Yukari, and the third… he didn't recognize that voice. It was a girl's voice, but he didn't recognize it. He began heading down the stairs rather quickly at first before slowing down a fair bit by the time he hit the bottom step. He walked over to the lounge where the three figures stood.

There was a girl Minato didn't recognize standing in front of the door. She had brown hair tied up in a short ponytail, and her eyes were a rather striking red color. Not the kind of red your eyes got after crying, but her irises were _red._ She was wearing a Gekkoukan uniform, and had a pair of red headphones, the same model as Minato's own, hanging from her neck. Hanging from a string around her neck was an MP3 player.

"Who's he?" the red-eyed girl asked. Mitsuru and Yukari both turned toward Minato. Yukari looked justifiably confused; Minato hadn't actually run into her yet, so she didn't quite know him yet.

"Oh, Arisato. I wasn't aware you were awake," Mitsuru said. She turned toward Yukari and the red-eyed mystery girl and motioned toward Minato. "This is Minato Arisato. He'll be a junior this year, just like you."

"…'Arisato?'" The red-eyed girl asked apprehensively.

"Um… is it okay for him to be here?" Yukari asked.

"I'm only staying here while they get some things sorted out at the guys' dorm," Minato said, repeating what Mitsuru had told him. Yukari still didn't quite believe it. The red-eyed girl was still watching Minato very carefully.

"Arisato, this is Yukari Takeba and Hamuko Arisato," Mitsuru stated, motioning toward Yukari and the red-eyed girl this time. She chuckled. "I was admittedly a bit surprised to see you both had the same surname, but I suppose it _is_ possible."

Minato had stopped listening about the point Mitsuru had said Hamuko's name. This girl's family name was Arisato. She had arrived at the same time he was supposed to arrive. She had the same surname as him. The arrival during the Dark Hour, Yukari nearly shooting someone, the weird explanations… this was when he was supposed to arrive at the dorm, except he _didn't._ Someone else who had taken his place _had._ That was the only explanation. This scene was too familiar for it to be anything else.

"In any case, it's getting late. Takeba, could you show Arisato to her room?" Mitsuru asked.

"Yeah, no prob," Yukari said to Hamuko. "Follow me."

The two girls walked toward the stairs leaving Minato and Mitsuru in the lounge.

"Sh-She's… how… _why?!"_

Mitsuru raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure what's wrong, Arisato, but you should go to sleep."

…Sleep. Sleep sounded good. Minato gave a small nod as he walked toward the stairs. Things had just taken a definite turn for the worse.

* * *

"That boy, does he live here?"

Yukari looked toward Hamuko and frowned. "You mean that Minato guy? I guess so… I wish Mitsuru-senpai would tell me when new people move into the dorm."

 _No, I meant the kid with the contract..._ Hamuko decided to drop it. That Minato guy was weird too, but she supposed Arisato wasn't all that rare of a surname, right? The fact that they were moving into the dorm at the same time, for really similar reasons, was really creepy, though. As Hamuko mulled over on these thoughts, Yukari pulled something from her pocket and placed it in Hamuko's palm.

"Here's your room key. Oh, and don't lose it, or you'll _never_ hear the end of it," Yukari said. Somehow Hamuko got the feeling she was talking from personal experience. Yukari turned to leave before turning back around.

"Um, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"On your way here from the station, was everything okay?"

Hamuko frowned. Things had been rather strange on the way to the dorm, now that she thought about it… "What do you mean?"

"You know what I-" Yukari sighed. "You know what, never mind. I better get going. I'm sure you've got other questions, but let's save them for later, okay? Good night."

"Night," Hamuko said in agreement, and closed her door behind her. She looked around her small room, and gave a smile.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home."

* * *

The next morning, Minato was putting on his Gekkoukan uniform when Yukari knocked as expected.

"Coming!" Minato called before Yukari could ask if he was awake. He pulled the lanyard his MP3 player hung from over his head and grabbed his headphones off of the desk next to him as he walked over to the door. He opened the door, letting Yukari and Hamuko in.

"Good morning!" Hamuko said cheerfully.

"Morning," Minato said not-so-cheerfully.

"Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you two to school," Yukari explained. "Are you ready to go?"

Minato nodded. So far everything was going exactly the same as before… or not, what with being found passed out in front of Tartarus, meeting a strange red-eyed girl that should not have been in his place, and the simple fact that he was alive and not the seal on some cosmic horror.

What was that about everything being the same again?

* * *

"…And that concludes the tour. Do you have any questions before I go?"

Minato shook his head. Hamuko did the same.

"Alright, cool," Yukari said. She turned to leave, but something crossed her mind at that moment, stopping her. She looked back toward Hamuko. "Hey, about last night. Don't tell _anyone_ what you saw, okay?"

"When you talk like that, you make it sound like we were up to something bad," Hamuko commented. Yukari flushed red.

"A-Anyways, I'm gonna go find out what class I'm in. See ya later!" Yukari waved goodbye to the two of them before scrambling off toward the bulletin board. Minato frowned and looked toward Hamuko. Even though he already knew what room he was likely going to be in (though with Hamuko here, he wasn't quite as sure now), it would be less suspicious if they headed to the faculty office anyways.

"Come on, let's go," Minato said. He turned toward the hallway to his left and began walking. Hamuko followed after. There was an expression on her face that showed she was still suspicious of things, particularly _him._ As the two of them walked down the hallway, Minato noted a samurai-helmeted teacher and some odd foreigner talking. He gave a grin, prompting Hamuko to raise an eyebrow in suspicion at him.

"I think this is the faculty office," Hamuko said. The two of them walked in. A brown haired woman looked up as they entered. Minato knew her too. Oh he knew her all too well, and at that thought he shuddered. If he never touched another MMORPG again it would still be one time too many.

"Oh, are you two the new students?" Ms. Toriumi asked. Minato and Hamuko both nodded. Ms. Toriumi opened up the two files she was holding.

"Minato Arisato, 11th grade, correct?" Minato nodded. "And… Hamuko Arisato, 11th grade?"

"We're not related," Hamuko stated. Ms. Toriumi shrugged and opened up both of the files, casually leafing through them.

"Wow, you've both lived in a lot of different places… and in 1999, your parents—" Ms. Toriumi gave a little gasp. "I'm sorry, I've been so busy, I…"

"It's okay," Hamuko said. Her smile was rather pained. Minato looked away. Even with what he knew now, he didn't like thinking about that. Nothing really changed the fact that the parents he'd known and loved were now dead.

"I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school. Have you two seen the classroom assignments?" Hamuko shook her head. "You're in 2-F; that's my class. But first we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting soon."

Ms. Toriumi moved toward the door. "Follow me." Minato and Hamuko did so without objections.

* * *

Minato slept through the ceremony.

* * *

"Class, this is Minato Arisato and Hamuko Arisato," Ms. Toriumi stated. "They're not related. The two of them transferred in recently."

Minato bowed. "I'm pleased to meet you all."

Hamuko smiled and gave a quick, rather deep bow. "I'm glad to meet you all!"

The class, being the gossiping students they were, began to gossip about the new transfer students.

_"Woah… two new transfer students in one day, with the same last names?"_

_"Well, at least the chick's cute."_

_"That Minato guy's kinda mysterious looking, though."_

_"I think he just looks emo."_

"Here we go again…" Minato said under his breath.

"'Again?'" Hamuko asked. She was looking at Minato suspiciously again. This time, Minato didn't notice it.

Thankfully for Minato, he and Hamuko had gotten seats on opposite ends of the room. The way Ms. Toriumi had decided to do their desks meant Hamuko had gotten his old seat, while Minato had been given a seat in the back of the room. This meant he'd easily been able to get away with spending the day listening to his MP3 player, only stopping during lunch to trade phone numbers with Yukari and Hamuko.

"'Sup, dude?"

Minato flinched and sat up, looking toward where Hamuko was getting up out of her desk. There was a guy wearing a baseball cap there talking to her.

"Haha, you look like a deer in headlights," the guy teased.

"Who are you?" Hamuko asked.

"Me? I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet you."

Minato sighed and stood up from his desk. He put his hands in his pockets as he walked over to Hamuko. Yukari had already walked over to the two of them.

"At it again, huh? Honestly, is there _any_ girl you wouldn't hit on?" Yukari asked. "Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?"

"What? But, I was just being friendly."

"If you say so," Yukari said. Junpei looked toward Minato.

"Oh, you're the other new kid, huh?"

Minato nodded. "Yeah, I'm Minato Arisato."

"Huh. Y'know, it's kinda funny we're all in the same homeroom, eh Yuka-tan?" Junpei turned toward Yukari as he said that.

"Yeah, it is," Yukari admitted.

"I'm a little surprised we're all in the same homeroom, too," Hamuko said. Minato nodded.

"So, I heard you three came to school together…" Junpei said with a smirk. "Man, guys like you get all the luck, Minato. Lovely lady on each arm… Yuka-tan and the mysterious transfer student… man…"

"Wh-What are you talking about?!" Yukari yelled.

"It's nothing like that!" Hamuko said, shocked.

"Dude, not funny. You better not have been spreading rumors about that…" Minato said.

"Hehe. Maybe."

Minato groaned. Yukari decided to change the subject and turned back toward Hamuko. "You didn't say anything about… you know what, did you?"

Hamuko shook her head.

"Okay, seriously, don't say anything about last night, alright?" Yukari emphasized.

"L-Last night…?" Junpei asked hesitantly.

"…Yukari, remember that point Hamuko made this morning about not saying things like that because it makes it look like we were doing bad things?" Minato spoke up. Yukari groaned.

"I've gotta go; I've got something to take care of for the archery team. But you better not start any rumors!" Yukari pointed an accusing finger at Junpei before walking away. Junpei waited until Yukari was gone to say anything.

"Ah, who cares? No one takes rumors seriously anyways," Junpei said. Minato picked up his bag.

"I'm going back to the dorm," Minato said to Hamuko. He walked toward the door as well. Junpei frowned at him and turned toward Hamuko.

"Geez he's grumpy. Anyways, as I was saying…"

* * *

The next day was uneventful. Once again, Minato ignored Hamuko and Junpei for the most part and headed back to the dorm by himself. He didn't really feel like talking to the two of them. Besides, Hamuko was already striking up a friendship with Junpei. No need to get in between what was likely going to be a _wonderful_ friendship. Minato was more preoccupied with trying to figure things out with his situation. For instance, how the hell he'd gotten here, why was there a girl version of him, and why could he remember everything. He really didn't like the idea of having to live through _everything_ again. It would be nice if he had some damn answers…

When he arrived at the dorm, Yukari was already in the lounge, talking to a strange man. Minato just about tripped as he saw that man. Because he _knew_ that man.

"Oh, he's back," Yukari said. The brown haired bespectacled man looked up at Minato.

"So this is our new guest." The man stood up and walked over toward Minato. "I'm Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school."

 _I know exactly who you are, you_ _ **bastard**_ _,_ Minato growled in his head.

"'Ikutsuki'… hard to say, isn't it?"

 _If I could punch you without Yukari freaking out, I would._ None of this was spoken, nor did it cross Minato's face. All he said was "Yeah, it is."

"I'm glad you understand! It's a bit of a tongue twister. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes." Ikutsuki motioned to the sofas in the lounge. "Please, have a seat."

"I think I'll stand, if that's alright."

"Oh no, I insist."

"No, I really need to get going," Minato said. "I've gotta go study."

"Can't it wait?" Yukari asked. "The Chairman's _never_ here. At least take the chance to talk to him."

"I thought I just was," Minato growled in a low voice. He turned away from Ikutsuki and Yukari and began to head toward the stairs, ignoring Yukari.

"Geez! What's his problem?" Yukari asked. Minato heard the sound of the door opening behind him, and turned. Hamuko was walking into the doom. "Oh, hey Hamuko! There's someone I'd like you to meet."

Hamuko looked over toward Ikutsuki, who was once again introducing himself. Minato was scrambling up the stairs to the second floor. He made his way over to a chair and sat down on it. This wasn't good. Ikutsuki would still talk to Hamuko; she _was_ their second potential Persona user to join this dorm in the past day. There had to be a way to send her a message…

And then the obvious answer hit him. They'd traded cell phone numbers at school yesterday. It was possible Hamuko wouldn't believe his message, but he had to at least get it out there. He flipped open his cell phone and began typing out a very quick text message.

-Ikutsuki-san can't be trusted.

He hit send. Down below, Minato could hear a light beeping noise.

 _"Sorry, that was my phone."_ A slight pause before the conversation began again. "Um, about the other night… …never mind." A sound of someone standing up. "I'm gonna go to my room. I've got a lot of studying to do. It was nice to meet you Mr. Chairman!"

"Geez, is _everyone_ here chronic studiers?"

"Well you know what they say! The early bird catches the _book_ worm!"

Yukari very audibly groaned.

Minato could hear Hamuko's footfalls from below. He thought about moving from where he was sitting so Hamuko wouldn't see him, but before he could do so, she reached the top of the stairs. Her expression was serious.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why what?" Minato asked, feigning ignorance.

"Why did you warn me?"

"I thought it'd be obvious," Minato said, and leaned back a little, resting his arm on the table behind him. His expression was just as serious as Hamuko's. "They're all hiding stuff from us. Like why that weird space of time occurred at midnight the other night." He leaned forward again. "And I've seen guys with Ikutsuki's attitude before. He's only acting like that to fool you into believing him. Yukari and Mitsuru tell the truth most of the time and their intentions seem to be altruistic, but Ikutsuki's definitely doing it just out of manipulation."

"I didn't ask your reasons. I know those," Hamuko said. "I was asking why you cared enough to text me that."

Now that caught Minato off guard. He frowned. "We're in the same boat, aren't we? I figured I might as well help you out a bit."

Hamuko sighed. "Is that so…"

"Did you sign a contract?" Minato asked, deciding to change the subject. Hamuko's eyes widened.

"So there was a contract…! I knew I wasn't imagining that!" Hamuko breathed. Minato frowned and stood up. His hands were in his pockets as he started walking down the hallway to his room. "Hey, wait! Where are you going?"

"Bed. You should go to bed, too," Minato said.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Hamuko yelled. "You know what's going on here, don't you?! Tell me!"

Minato paused in the doorway to his room for a moment before shaking his head. "I have no idea what's going to happen anymore. Night." He closed the door behind him, leaving Hamuko standing alone in the hallway, speechless.


	3. The First Summoning

No strange dreams.

Somehow Minato thought he should feel thankful for that fact, but with how uncertain things had been, it wasn't as much of a relief as it should have been. But he knew at least a few of his questions were going to be answered tonight. At the moment, all he could really do was sit at his desk, stare outside, and wait for the Dark Hour. The full moon was easily visible from Minato's dorm room. Far off into the distance was where the school was, though it wasn't visible from here. It would be in about a minute.

Minato had considered going to sleep. He'd decided against it when he remembered his rude awakening last time. He'd thought he was still dreaming, only for Yukari to barge into his room carrying a fucking _sword_. And it had been a real one, too, not one of those fake wooden ones those Akihabara nerds were always waving around. Really, there were only two events that night he remembered clearly: Yukari running into his room carrying a sword, and when he summoned Orpheus for the first time.

He remembered that first summoning well. They'd been attacked by whatever the hell the thing that had attacked Akihiko had been. Yukari had called it a "Shadow", and then pulled the gun from her thigh holster and put it to her head. At the time, Minato had still been under the impression it was a real gun. The only explanation his mind could come up back then with was that these Shadow things were so bad suicide was preferable over being killed by them. The shadow had attacked her with this spiraling blue energy attack and Yukari's gun had been knocked away from her, right into the puddle of blood at Minato's feet.

He'd picked it up. His thoughts had been muddled; whether it was by the Dark Hour or by the Death sealed inside him, Minato hadn't known. All he knew was that his thoughts had been telling him to put the gun to his head and pull the trigger. His hand had been shaking; he'd known he was going to die if he did that, and somehow he knew if he didn't do that he was going to die too. And then a word had appeared in his head. Persona.

He'd shot it, and the most wonderful feeling had gone through his body. He'd felt like there was pure ecstasy running through his veins as the shards of light moved around his body, and there had been a rush of power he'd never felt before in his entire life, and he'd begun to grin madly. Most of the time, he told himself it had been the influence of Death or just the rush of power that had brought that on. Mitsuru had once told him that most people had similar reactions when summoning their Persona for the first time.

A figure had appeared in the air above Minato, and announced itself as "Orpheus, Master of Strings." The rush of power had dissipated as quickly as it had come, replaced by sheer pain. He'd felt like something was trying to tear his head in two, and he'd grasped his head in pain as the newly summoned Orpheus began to writhe and scream. Two hands had reached out of Orpheus' robotic body from its neck and ripped the entire thing in half. Minato hadn't recognized the being at that time. It wasn't like he remembered when his parents had died. The Persona, Thanatos, had attacked the Shadow and tore it to shreds, arm by arm. Minato saw none of this fight, because his knees had given out and he'd been struggling not to pass out. The pain had only finally faded because Thanatos had given one last roar before flickering back into Orpheus' form.

None of Minato's other Personas had ever had that happen to them. It had been that moment that allowed SEES to realize Minato could summon multiple Personas, but none of the other instances where he summoned one had happened so violently. At least Minato could solidly blame that one on Death with the info he had now.

He grabbed a water bottle off of his desk and unscrewed the cap. Waiting around for the Dark Hour to come was incredibly boring. Maybe he should have just gone to bed and slept until Yukari inevitably woke him up, but he _really_ didn't like being woken up in the middle of night, and plus, by the time that idea had occurred to him, it had been 23:30 anyways. No point in getting only thirty minutes of sleep. Just as Minato was taking a drink from his water bottle, the world shifted over, and the taste of water was replaced by the metallic taste of blood. He spat the blood from his mouth and coughed a couple times. Minato looked down at the water bottle, and then he tossed the thing at the wall, where it burst and left a rather large blood splatter.

There _had_ to be a reason he'd appeared here, but all he could see was that some quirk of fate had decided to fuck with the Great Seal, drop him off here, and force him to relive his entire time in SEES. As far as he could tell, he couldn't change a damn thing, and because of that, Hamuko was going to end up becoming the Great Seal. The situation fit: she'd shown up at the same time he had originally, and signed an odd contract before getting attacked by Yukari. She probably had the Wild Card too. And once everything was said and done, she'd end up sacrificing herself to seal away Nyx so humanity could be saved from something they wouldn't even remember in the end.

This was just so fucked up.

* * *

Two floors up from where Minato was waiting for the Dark Hour to start, Yukari and Mitsuru were watching Hamuko sleep. The screen they were watching Hamuko on was split down the middle into two video feeds. On one side was the image of the sleeping Hamuko, while on the other, a video showing Minato awake and sitting at his desk.

"How are they?" Ikutsuki asked.

"Hamuko is the same as last night. Minato, on the other hand, has opted to stay awake all night. I thought about going down to tell him to go to sleep, but…"

Mitsuru was interrupted by the sound of the water bottle being thrown against the wall. Yukari grimaced as she realized what had happened. She hadn't even noticed the time switch over to the Dark Hour, but when it had, Minato must have gotten a mouthful of blood.

"Geez…" Yukari said in a low voice.

"Hmm… rather interesting," Ikutsuki noted. "Even those with the Potential tend to be unstable at first, but both of them seem to have adjusted quite well to it."

Mitsuru nodded. Initially, Minato had shown several symptoms, but after a couple days they had seemed to fade. Hamuko on the other hand had shown none from the beginning.

"But… we're treating them like guinea pigs," Yukari said solemnly.

Ikutsuki had opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment Minato had stood up and looked right up at the camera. All three people in the command room were focused on his side of the screen as Minato reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and a couple of thumbtacks. He pulled the chair away from his desk, moving it to the middle of the room before standing on it and pinning the handkerchief up over the camera lens.

"Di-Did he…?" Yukari gaped. Mitsuru chuckled.

"He's quite observant. To have figured out we were observing him and exactly where… _tres bien,"_ Mitsuru said to herself.

Ikutsuki didn't quite hold the same opinion. Minato had been acting rather suspiciously toward him since the first time they had met. From what Mitsuru and Akihiko had told him about this new arrival, he already seemed to know his way around the dorm, and seemed to know more than he should. Mitsuru and Akihiko hadn't found it odd how much he knew. Ikutsuki thought otherwise. And now the fact that Minato knew they had been observing him at that very moment… Just who was this kid?

At that moment, there was a loud beeping from the bank of consoles. Mitsuru pressed a button. "Command room. Is that you, Akihiko?"

_"You're not gonna believe this…! This thing is huge! Unfortunately, I don't have time to talk… it's chasing me…"_

* * *

Yukari didn't even bother knocking. She didn't even bother yelling for Minato to open the door. She just kicked it open and ran in, followed by a confused and scared looking Hamuko. Hamuko was tightly gripping a naginata, while Yukari was carrying a bow in one hand and a sword in the other. Her Evoker was strapped to her thigh, and there was a red band around her left arm.

"I don't have time to explain! We have to get out of here, now!" Yukari yelled. Minato blinked.

"You kicked my door down!"

"Just go!" Yukari yelled. Deciding it was best to not argue with the woman carrying the pointy objects, Minato ran out into the hallway, Yukari and Hamuko following. "Wait, take this, just in case."

She handed him a short sword. Now this was the part he remembered. He looked between the sword Yukari had handed him and the naginata Hamuko was carrying, and a thought occurred to him.

"Where did you even get these from?" Minato asked.

"I just grabbed whatever I could find really fast in the armory, okay?" Yukari said.

"We have an armory?!" Hamuko asked incredulously.

"We have an armory!?" Minato asked excitedly.

"Look, we don't have time for this! We have to go!" Yukari yelled. She started running for the stairs, and Minato and Hamuko both followed after her. Eventually they made it to the back door.

"Alright, we should be safe now—"

There was a beeping from Yukari's direction, and she put her hand up to her ear. Minato didn't know what Mitsuru was saying on the other side of that communicator, but what was important was the fact that something had just tried to bash the door down while Yukari was talking to Mitsuru.

"U-Upstairs!" Hamuko exclaimed.

The three of them ran for the stairs. As they were halfway up the first flight, Minato heard something crash to the floor from behind them. At the sound of that, the three of them sped up. By the time they reached the top floor, they were all out of breath. Yukari looked over toward the one door on the top floor.

"O-Oh yeah! If we go out through here…" Yukari pulled the door open and ran out first. Minato and Hamuko burst out into the cold air on the roof, and Yukari slid a large metal bar into the door, barricading it.

"I think we're safe for now…" Yukari said, and then gave a loud gasp. Hamuko shook her head slowly.

"No we're not…" Hamuko said quietly. A black hand grasped the edge of the roof, followed by several others. Then, one holding a blue mask looked up over the roof's edge and moved it from side to side, and Minato got the intense feeling that somehow, something could see from that mask. The hand holding the mask stopped moving when it "saw" Hamuko, and then several other hands, all of them holding blades, burst from its body. Hamuko took a step back as the Shadow began to scramble toward the three of them.

"Those monsters," Yukari breathed. "We call them Shadows." She unholstered her Evoker and pressed the barrel to her forehead. But she didn't pull the trigger immediately, and that was the only opening Magician needed. A spiral of blue energy rose up from the ground under Yukari, sending her and the Evoker flying. The Evoker landed in a puddle of blood at Hamuko's feet. Minato looked toward her for a moment before being swatted away by a shadowy hand and being sent flying He landed on his back, stunning him for a few moments. He scrambled to his feet just in time for Magician to swing a blade down at his head, which Minato brought his own sword up to block.

"Use it!" Minato yelled at Hamuko. Hamuko looked down at the Evoker on the ground, and Minato nodded vigorously, and then threw his weight forward against the blade. Magician pulled its sword back, giving Minato enough time to refocus his stance before the Shadow brought two blades down onto his own feeble sword.

Hamuko stared down at the gun, her eyes glazed over, lifeless. Slowly, she bent down and picked the Evoker up. She held the gun in her shaking hand, and gradually raised it up to her head, placing one hand on top of her breasts as she did so. She closed her eyes.

"Hurry!" Minato yelled. He was beginning to realize why they'd never used any of the weapons in this "armory" before. This was a practice sword, and it was beginning to crack under the weight of Magician's superior weaponry.

Hamuko still didn't hear him. Her mouth curled into a smile, and her hand stopped shaking.

"Per…. so…. na."

There was the sound of glass shattering, and glass shards actually flew out from Hamuko's head. They fell to the ground, and then rose up and spiraled around her body. She was grinning, her red eyes glittering, sweat dripping down her forehead. The shards of glass began to form into something above Hamuko, and a strangely feminine voice rang out. Minato stared at the being. It had the same robotic body his Orpheus did, but the colors, the hair, the harp, they were all different.

_"Thou art I… and I am thou… from the sea thy soul I come forth. I am Orpheus, Master of Strings!"_

This new Orpheus gave a roar. Minato's blade finally shattered under the Shadow's weight, and he rolled to the side to avoid the Shadow's blades. He found himself staring up at the new Orpheus. Yukari was staring in shock. Hamuko's expression was still maddened, completely unlike her, and Minato felt more than a bit unnerved. That look on Hamuko's face… that was what he'd looked like the first time he'd summoned a Persona.

There was a loud squelching sound, and Hamuko grasped her head and began to scream. Minato's gaze immediately swung from Hamuko to her twitching, screaming Persona. Two large hands tore themselves free of Orpheus' mouth. They grasped this Orpheus' robotic body, and tore it in two, shattering the much too small Persona's body. Hamuko gave another scream and dropped the Evoker as the black cloaked Persona that had torn itself free of Orpheus' body lept into the air. Yukari scrambled to her feet and pressed herself against the wall. Hamuko fell to her knees as Thanatos flew at Magician, landing right on top of the Shadow and crushing its body into a black sludge. The Shadow's mask went flying, and Thanatos sliced it and several of its arms in half with one slash. One arm landed and twitched a bit before dissolving in front of Yukari.

Thanatos gave another roar, and its body began to flicker. Two Shadows rose up from the sludge Magician had left. Minato ran over to Hamuko and grabbed the Evoker just as Thanatos flickered back to Orpheus' form, and then put the Evoker up against his head.

 _Let this work,_ Minato thought. He pulled the trigger without hesitation. _"PERSONA!"_

There was the sound of glass shattering. Minato's mouth curled into a smirk. Above him hovered a familiar, green armored, white-haired Orpheus. The Persona didn't even do its introduction speech; the two of them already knew each other too much for that. Orpheus pulled the lyre off of his back and strummed it. Fire leapt from the strings and consumed the Shadows, leaving only a fine pile of ash. Its job done, Orpheus disappeared in a flash of light. The roof was silent.

Minato looked back toward Yukari. "…I think we're safe now."

"Yeah," Hamuko said. "I think he's right."

The two of them hit the ground at the same time. Before Minato's vision went completely dark, he could hear Yukari's increasingly panicked voice calling for him.

"Hey! Are you two okay? _Hey!"_

* * *

Minato was greeted by a vision of a door opening up to a blue elevator, and he found himself sitting in a familiar lyre-backed chair, staring across the table at the long-nosed man he called Igor. There was a strange absence of the other denizen of the room, but Igor spoke up before Minato could ask anything.

"This is quite the unexpected development," Igor said. His hands were clasped in front of him, long, spindly fingers crossed over each other. "Your contract has long since expired, and yet you still return."

"I died," Minato said.

"Correct," Igor said. "Your soul was made into the Great Seal, while your body simply ceased to move. However, it was deemed that your soul was to be released from its bonds, and so you were resurrected."

"Then explain why I woke up in _this_ world, where that girl is running around in the same place I am?"

"You have no body to return to in your world."

At first, Minato didn't understand. His eyes slowly widened as the meaning of Igor's words sunk in. They would have cremated him by now. His "body" was nothing but ashes in a graveyard, likely buried next to his parents' ashes in the family grave. They were one big happy dead family.

Minato suddenly felt like he was going to puke.

"This world's fate is much the same as your own. In ten months, tragedy will come and be averted due to the sacrifice of your counterpart in this world, and Nyx will be sealed away from Erebus' touch once more," Igor said. "You are no longer required to do anything for the sake of this world. Your Persona has weakened due to Death's influence leaving your body and the conclusion of your contract, but they are still more than strong enough to prevent your mind from being devoured by Shadows."

Minato stared down at his hands, his knuckles white from how hard he was clenching them. He'd been right, everything was happening the same way it had before, and just with Hamuko in the same position he'd been a year ago, and because of that, she'd make the same choices he had in the past using the knowledge she had. In the end, she'd die all for the sake of everyone else. A modern day messiah, and not a person would know about it. In the eyes of everyone but SEES, she'd die for absolutely nothing.

Words rang in Minato's head. The voice they were being spoken by was very similar to his own, yet distinctly different. He'd heard them said once before, when all hope had been lost, and only now could he appreciate the sentiment behind them.

_I don't want you to have to endure such pain._

"Hamuko's already signed her contract, hasn't she?" Minato asked. Igor nodded. Minato looked down at his lap, and then clenched his hands into fists. He placed his unclenched hands on the table. "...I've made my decision. Give me one of those contracts too. I can't sit here and watch all of this happen."

"You wish to change this world's fate?" Igor asked.

"I have to change things. I can't just sit here and let this so called 'fate' come to pass," Minato said. His mind went back to the thoughts he had earlier, about how powerless he was and why he'd appeared here. There had to be something he could do. And now that he'd realized what he could cause to come to pass, he wasn't just going to sit here and let Hamuko sacrifice herself for something that could be prevented.

"If you die this time, you will not have a chance to come back," Igor stated. "This is your last second chance."

Minato stared down at his hands, and then back up at Igor. There was a determined expression on his face as he spoke. "I don't care. I'll still do it."

For a moment, Minato thought he saw the vestiges of a smile curl across Igor's face.

"Then let us make the contract." Igor waved his hand, and a blue book and a feather quill appeared on the table in front of Minato. The book opened on its own, opening to a page with some test and a line to sign one's name on.

"This is a different contract than last time," Minato said. The last one had simply asked him to assume responsibility for the actions he had taken, but this one…

"Correct," Igor said. "Before, your heart was empty. There was no resolution in it that you should follow, and so the only condition for my services was that you would take full responsibility for your actions. Your heart has changed over the past year, and so have the terms of your contract."

Minato wondered if he should feel insulted by Igor's comment about his empty heart, but instead of following up on it, he looked back down at the contract.

 _I vow to do everything in my power to prevent the coming tragedy,_ it read. Minato lifted the quill and wrote his name. The book closed the moment he finished the last stroke in "Minato", and a key floated down in front of Minato, and he grasped it from the air.

"And so it is done," Igor said. Minato put a hand on his head as the dream began to fade. The Velvet Room disappeared, and he was falling through black space, past a large door covered in eyes. Chained to the door was a marble statue of a naked woman, her arms outstretched. A black shadow rose from the ground Minato was falling through, but before she left his vision, he realized exactly who she was.

" _Elizabeth?"_

And at that moment, Minato woke up.


	4. Joining SEES

Ikutsuki closed the door to the command room and locked it behind him. He slowly strode over to the bank of consoles. He had several papers in a stack, and his expression was fairly serious compared to the façade he usually put up. It had been over a day since the attack on the co-ed dorm, and the events on that night weighed heavily on his mind.

The attack on the dorm had been a shock to all involved, with a different reason for everyone. While SEES' reasons involved the fact the dorm had been attacked by a giant Shadow, Ikutsuki's involved the two newest Persona users they had found. Upon defeating the smaller shadows that had followed their master, the three had realized Yukari hadn't been able to escape through the back door. By the time they had arrived at the command and found Yukari, Hamuko, and Minato on the security cameras, Hamuko was already raising the gun to her head. Ikutsuki had managed to stop Mitsuru and Akihiko from running after them long enough to see Hamuko summon her Persona… or rather, _Personas._ They had expected she could summon a Persona. They had not expected to see another Persona tear hers apart from the inside and then dismember the large Shadow that had attacked the dorm.

Hamuko had not been the only one to awaken that night. Minato too had his chance to summon a Persona, and it was that that intrigued Ikutsuki most of all. He pressed few buttons on the console, turning the screen on and causing the recording from the rooftop of that night to play.

The three of them ran onto the rooftop. The Shadow appeared, and Yukari tried to summon her Persona, but failed. The Evoker landed at Hamuko's feet, and Minato was sent flying by the Shadow, but managed to pick himself up again almost immediately. The blue-haired teenager had then blocked Magician's attack. No kid who had just picked up a sword that night could block like that, and Ikutsuki doubted they taught that kind of guard in kendo. As the Chairman for Gekkoukan High, he'd taken some visits to the school's kendo team's practice room and watched a few practices. The stance Minato had wielded his blade with was completely unlike a stance used in any conventional kendo. He couldn't find any way to blame that skill with the blade on some kind of school club.

Following his parry against the large Shadow, Minato had yelled for Hamuko to "use it," referring to the Evoker. And there was another strange moment. Minato had encouraged Hamuko to use the Evoker. Even if he'd thought it was a normal gun, he hadn't reacted the way any normal person would when she had lifted the gun to her head. In fact, he'd told her to "hurry." Nothing about the events had shocked that boy except for when the second Persona had emerged from Orpheus' body, and even then the shock had not lasted very long. When the second group of Shadows had emerged from the large one's remains, Minato had snatched up the Evoker and, without hesitation, summoned his own Persona.

It had been the same as Hamuko's.

This wasn't the issue of similar appearing Personas, like Akihiko and Shinjiro's had been. Their Personas were opposite-gender versions of each other, with literally the only differences being in coloration, hair length, and the shape of the lyre. He had researched Shadows and Personas for over ten years, and he knew no two people possessed the same Persona by now. This was not normal.

He turned off the recording and pulled two files out of his stack of papers. One was labeled Minato Arisato, the other Hamuko Arisato. They were clearly not related; their surnames were even written with different kanji. The differences ended at their names and appearances. Upon delving into their backstories, they were almost creepily similar. Hamuko's parents had died on December 2nd, 2000 from a car accident on Moonlight Bridge. Minato's parents had died on December 3rd, 2000 from injuries sustained around midnight the previous day. From there, the orphaned children had been shifted from relative to relative before finally being transferring to Gekkoukan High School. On the official record, Hamuko had transferred due to receiving a scholarship for the school. In truth, Ikutsuki had been behind it, choosing to transfer her in after finding out that she possessed the Potential. Minato, on the other hand, had been sent to Gekkoukan by his relatives, who supposedly had used his inheritance (which he couldn't access for another three years) to pay for the entrance fees. Ikutsuki had told himself that their simultaneous transfers were nothing but a coincidence until the attack on the dorm occurred. There was still nothing in Minato's history to explain his suspicious behavior.

This was not to be mistaken as Ikutsuki being nervous about Minato. Despite the teen's odd behavior, Ikutsuki doubted Minato knew as much as he thought he did. Even if Minato knew about his true purpose here with SEES, Ikutsuki highly doubted Mitsuru would believe him. After all, the word of an adult who had worked with the Kirijo Group to combat Shadows for over ten years versus the word of some kid who had just transferred into Gekkoukan a week ago? The obvious choice would be the adult.

He made a mental note to keep an eye on this Minato kid. On the off chance that Minato actually knew anything and Mitsuru trusted him, he'd need to make precautions.

"….Minato Arisato… and Port Island is part of Minato-ku. He's Minato- _kun_ from Minato- _ku!"_ Ikutsuki giggled to himself and stood up from his chair. At that moment, someone jiggled the doorknob. Ikutsuki didn't quite hear Mitsuru's voice coming from the other side of the door.

"Mr. Chairman, I—"

"And Hamuko-chan, too! When I first saw her name, I couldn't help but think 'Hamu-chan? So hamsters can possess the Potential now, too? What an interesting development!'"

"…U-Um, perhaps I should come back later…"

Ikutsuki frowned as he heard the footsteps leading away from the door. Perhaps those hadn't been his best, but they hadn't been that bad, had they? "No one here has a sense of humor…"

* * *

Minato gave a groan and sat up, and then immediately flinched from the bright sunlight streaming in his eyes. He lifted a hand to block the sunlight before looking around the room. The white walls and instruments around the various cots in this room indicated that it was a hospital room… looked like he was at Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. Unconscious in the bed next to him was Hamuko. Her barrettes had been taken out and her ponytail undone, so her hair hung freely around her face. She looked like she was sleeping, but Minato knew otherwise. No, she was just exhausted more than she'd ever been exhausted in her life. _Oh, don't mind me; just gonna pass out for a week._

Now that he thought about it, just how long had _he_ been asleep, anyways? It always felt like whenever Igor called him in his dreams he was asleep for ridiculously long periods of time, even in cases where he went there out of force of will. As usual, hardly anything about his experience in the Velvet Room had made any sense. Especially not what he'd seen as he was about to wake up… he _knew_ that door.

"Elizabeth…" Minato found himself mumbling out loud. He had seen her naked body chained to that door in the place where he should have been. Minato had loved Elizabeth. There was no denying that. He'd loved a lot of girls, and indeed, he'd gained a bit of a reputation back then for just how much of a player he'd been. Indeed, one could easily say his definition of love was a bit shallow, but he had felt something a little more when he was with Elizabeth. In the Velvet Room, Igor had said it had been decided that Minato could be freed from his duty as the Seal. Was this because Elizabeth had taken his place…? That wasn't right…

He heard the door open, and waved at Yukari as she walked in. He'd expected her to show up soon.

"Oh, hey, you're awake," Yukari said. She gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, I thought you'd never wake up. I was so worried…"

"How long have I been out?"

"Like, all day." Yukari sat down in a chair between Minato and Hamuko's beds. "The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you two. He said you were just exhausted. But then you kept sleeping… you know how worried I was? Um…"

Somehow, or another, Minato and Yukari ended up speaking at the same time. "I want to apologize." The two of them flinched and looked away for a moment. Yukari looked toward Minato again.

"What, you've got something to apologize about too?" Minato asked.

"You first," Yukari said.

"If you insist." There was a slight pause before he spoke, but he was looking right at Yukari as he said what he needed to. "I wanted to apologize for how much of a jackass I've been lately. I've been confused and I didn't know what I was doing for a while there, but I think I finally understand what I need to do."

"…wow. That's way better than what I wanted to say," Yukari said after a moment. "I wanted to apologize for not being able to do anything to protect you. Mitsuru-senpai made it my job to protect you guys, and I couldn't even do that. But wow… your power, it was _amazing."_

"…I guess Personas are pretty cool, huh?"

"Huh? You already know what they're called?"

 _Oh shit._ "Oh, uh… I heard Hamuko-chan say that before she shot herself in the head before," Minato said, making up an explanation on the spot. He kept forgetting he _technically_ wasn't supposed to know this stuff yet. "…speaking of which, what _was_ that gun thing?"

"Oh, uh… we'll explain all that later, okay?" Yukari said. "Uh… I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this before. Mitsuru-senpai asked me to keep it secret."

Minato shrugged. "I probably wouldn't have believed you anyways."

"Yeah, probably," Yukari agreed. She stood up. "…Y'know, I'm kinda like you and Hamuko. My dad died in an accident when I was little… and my mom and I aren't exactly on good terms."

Minato looked away. He _really_ wished people would stop bringing that up, especially since he knew now why his parents died. Yukari continued rambling on about her mom and dad, but Minato didn't pay much attention.

"Hey, are you alright? You look kinda pale."

Minato blinked. "I'm fine, sorry." He shook his head. "…Y'know, my parents died on the day of that incident, and if what I've heard from Hamuko-chan is right, her parents died that same day too. I think it's related."

"Yeah, I think so too," Yukari said. "Hey, thanks for listening. I've been wanting to share that story with someone for a long time."

"It's no prob." Minato climbed out of bed and stood up, giving a bit of a stretch as he did so. "Hey, have you seen my headphones?"

"Uh, shouldn't you wait for a nurse to come up before you do that?"

"I'm not staying in this hospital any longer now that I'm awake. I hate hospitals," Minato said. "And I've got a few things I want to talk to Mitsuru-senpai and Ikutsuki about," he quickly added.

Yukari looked over toward Hamuko.

"Hey, she'll be okay, right?" Yukari asked. She shook her head and gave a nervous chuckle. "What am I doing asking you…?"

Minato gave a kind smile and put a hand on her shoulder, causing Yukari to turn toward him. "She'll be fine. Just give her time."

Yukari's face flushed a little red and she nodded. "Yeah. Alright, come on, let's get you out of here and back to the dorm."

"Yeah," Minato said. As they were heading down the hallway, he asked, "Hey, did you get the notes for the past couple days for me?"

In his head, though, he was thinking to himself, _Yes! I've still got it! Eat your heart out, Ryoji!_

* * *

Minato and Yukari walked back to the dorm together after Minato checked out of the hospital. On the way back, they had struck up a conversation, but it ended up being rather one sided. Minato's thoughts were elsewhere, and he wasn't really paying much attention. For the most part, it was thoughts of Hamuko, Elizabeth and Ikutsuki. Hamuko had taken his place as Wild Card, Elizabeth had taken his place as the Seal, and Ikutsuki was _still_ scheming and lying. Minato knew he couldn't do a thing about two of those three things, but he still had a chance with that third thing.

As they walked to the dorm, Yukari had revealed that Ikutsuki wasn't even at the dorm today. This worked quite well in Minato's favor, mainly because the less time he spent around the pun spewing bastard, the better. Minato pushed open the doors to the dorm, and he couldn't help but grin at his luck. Mitsuru and Akihiko were both sitting in the lounge. The two of them looked up as the door opened. Yukari walked in behind Minato, and closed the door behind her. Minato raised a hand in greeting to Akihiko and Mitsuru. "Hey."

"I didn't expect you to be out of the hospital so soon," Mitsuru said. "Where's Arisato?"

Minato blinked. He was right there, wasn't he?

"She's still unconscious," Yukari said in response, and Minato understood. He was never going to get used to the fact that there were two people with the surname Arisato in this dorm. Minato and Yukari sat down on a sofa.

Akihiko put his boxing gloves down on the table between them. As he bent over, Minato noticed that his clothes didn't quite rest right around his midsection. From the looks of things, there were some rather stiff bandages around his ribs. There was possibly a metal brace too, but he couldn't be sure. Akihiko looked up at Minato and smiled. "How ya doin'?"

"I'm still a little sore," Minato admitted. "Probably nothing compared to Hamuko-chan, though. She had that Persona tear its way out of that other Persona's head, after all. If I'm that sore from just summoning my Persona, I don't even want to think about how she's feeling." _Got to stick to what information I would know at this point… have to act clueless about Personas and Shadows for the most part._

"I suppose that means you already received some basic information about Shadows and Personas from Takeba, then," Mitsuru said.

"Just the Personas," Yukari input. "I thought I should let Ikutsuki-san explain everything else."

"Unfortunately, the Chairman is not here today," Mitsuru said. "However, I've heard from him that he will be here tomorrow night, so—"

Minato's eyes widened. "N-No, wait! Tell me everything now. This isn't a normal dorm, and you guys aren't normal students, and obviously, I'm not some normal guy either, otherwise shooting myself in the head would have killed me back there. I'm dying for answers!" It was almost painful just how thickly he was laying it on.

Mitsuru looked between Akihiko and Yukari, and then looked toward Minato again. "Would you believe me if I said there were more than 24 hours in a day?"

* * *

The conversation degraded into small talk after that. The important part was Minato was now a de facto member of SEES. He was now up in his room copying down the notes he'd asked Yukari to get for him back at the hospital. If he was going to be reliving this whole year, he needed to refresh himself on the information. It wasn't like this kind of info stuck in your head when you had more important things on your mind, like girlfriends or the end of the world.

As for the more important things, it would be a few days before Hamuko woke up, and once she did, things would start going along normally again. "Normally" was not a good thing in this case, but he was going to have to cross those bridges when he got there. What a shame that time neither waited nor sped up for any man. It always sucked when the creepy kids you saw in your head turned out to be right.

The tip of the pencil snapped, and Minato swore before flicking the pencil to the side. It flew over the desk and landed on the ground, where it rolled under the television in the corner. He couldn't concentrate. No one had removed the cloth from the camera while he had been in the hospital, so at least he didn't have to worry about Mitsuru accessing the recordings and catching him in the horrible, unforgivable act of _not studying._

He was incredibly worried about Hamuko, but at this point in time, he wasn't sure if he could change things or even how to go about doing so. Igor had said his power was weaker now, and while Minato didn't know exactly what that entailed quite yet, he had a feeling he'd know soon enough. He didn't know if he could convince the others that Ikutsuki couldn't be trusted, either. It wasn't like the man had ever outwardly shown his nihilistic tendencies before he'd revealed that he was completely out of his mind.

"Screw it," Minato said. He grabbed the notebook he had borrowed from Yukari and headed downstairs. He needed to clear his mind. This meant getting out of this dorm and doing something non-school or SEES related.

"Hey, Yukari, wanna go out for karaoke?"

_Still got it._


	5. Hamuko Does Not Fear The Reaper

Even after Minato woke up, it was still several days before Hamuko did the same. The school had been told that they had both ended up in the hospital after coming down with a bad fever. However, this unsatisfactory explanation had led to rumors circulating, mainly from their resident rumormonger, Junpei, who was telling anyone that would listen that the Arisatos had been mauled by bears.

"Okay, first of all, we live in the city. Bears live in the _mountains,_ " Minato said one day after hearing about this from Junpei. "Second of all, do I _look_ like I was mauled by a bear?"

"Hey, hey, hey! It could happen! Besides, _Kenji_ saw a cougar last week!"

"That I did," Kenji called from the back of the room. Somehow Minato got the feeling Kenji and Junpei were talking about completely different things. He groaned and put a hand on his forehead in exasperation.

"Okay, fine. It was a _bear,"_ he relented. He honestly wasn't sure why he bothered trying with these two. At that moment, Minato felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and pulled it out. There was a new text message from Yukari. After reading the contents of the message, Minato stood up.

"I've gotta go," Minato said. "Hamuko-chan finally woke up, and Yukari wants me to fill her in on some things." Mainly things related to SEES, though if anyone asked, Minato would say it was all of the work Hamuko had missed. Not that anyone actually did ask about it.

"Alright, see ya," Junpei said. As Minato made his way to the door, Junpei added, "And watch out for that bear!"

* * *

"…Wow."

If Hamuko hadn't already lived through it, she wouldn't have believed what Minato was telling her. A hidden hour between two days? Monsters that prey on human minds? A special power that she possessed that could defeat them? It was almost unbelievable. But with this explanation, that made _two_ people that had told her about these things. Yukari had filled her in on some basic stuff, and Minato had given her the details. Add that to the weird dreams with the Velvet Room she'd had lately, and hell, she'd believe anything. You could have told her angels were about to shoot nuclear missiles at Japan and she would have believed it.

Hamuko and Minato were seated around a table on the third floor. Minato was sitting across from Hamuko while she copied down his notes from the past few days. She'd actually stopped about ten minutes ago to listen to his explanation of things, which she figured had been coming soon anyways. She just hadn't expected it from him… she'd expected it from someone like Mitsuru or Ikutsuki.

"It's all pretty crazy," Minato said. "I didn't believe it when I heard it either, but it's the only way any of this makes sense. Monsters and people turning into coffins…"

Hamuko nodded. "And robots coming out of our heads when we shoot ourselves." She frowned at the memory of that moment. "Why did that black thing with the sword come out of my Persona?"

And that was when that expression hit. Every now and then, Hamuko had seen him get this odd expression like he was hiding something. As far as she could tell, there was no real correlation for when that expression came up. Sometimes, it was when they were talking about serious things like this, and other times, it was during innocuous conversations. There was one thing Hamuko knew for sure, though. Minato knew way more than he was telling them.

"Not really sure, to be honest," Minato said. "I think it might have something to do with your power to summon multiple Personas…"

_"Huh!"_

And there, he'd done it again. That was one of those things that had led Hamuko to realize Minato was hiding things from them. He let things like _that_ slip. Hamuko had learned about her "unique power" from Igor in her dreams, but she hadn't told anyone else in the group about it.

"O-Oh, right, I haven't told you about that," Minato said rather quickly. "Do you remember when I asked you about that contract? I've signed one too. I think you and I are the only people here that can summon multiple Personas."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a dark blue key, holding it up so Hamuko could see it. She frowned, and he put it away.

 _I guess he's telling the truth, but how did he even know in the first place-_ She stopped that thought before it could finish. What was she doing? She was treating Minato suspiciously _why?_ Because they came from creepily similar circumstances and had similar surnames? Because he knew some things she didn't? They were in the same boat here! It only made sense he might know about her "special power" if he'd signed the same contract she had! He'd asked her about that last week! Was she really that jumpy?

"Multiple Personas, huh…" Hamuko mumbled. This was a bit of a leap, but it was worth asking about. After all, he'd known about her contract… "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have seen a weird kid around here, would you?"

"…weird kid?" That damn expression again. "Might have. Was he wearing this black and white striped outfit?"

Hamuko jumped up. "Yeah! That was him! I knew it, he _does_ exist!"

"Sorry, I don't know a thing about him. You sure you weren't dreaming?"

Hamuko blinked. "Wha—Hey! You can't say things like that and then pretend you don't know anything!"

Minato stood up, putting his hands in his pockets as he did so. "Don't you need to finish copying down those notes? Ekoda's gonna give you hell if you don't know everything about Heike Monogatari by tomorrow." And at that, he walked down the stairs to the lounge.

"Hey! You can't keep running away every time I ask about something you don't wanna talk about!" Hamuko yelled. She slammed her hands down on the table. "Hey! Get back here! _Hey!"_

She was rather red in the face. That unbelievable _jerkface!_ She was now convinced he was just screwing with her. She was going to have to get him for this one of these days. She looked down at her papers, and grumbled before picking them up and heading for her room at the end of the hall. He could have his notes back in the morning. Right now if she saw him, Minato would likely get a boot to the face. How could anyone seriously think she was related to a jerkface like him? Maybe this was a petty thing to get mad at him over, but this was the second time he'd walked out on her like this! And when they were talking about something important too! She walked into her room and slammed the door behind her.

She sighed before placing the papers on her table. She was just so tired, for more than a few reasons. Notes… yeah, notes could wait. Without even bothering to change out of her clothes or even turn out the light, she collapsed on top of her bed. She was asleep the moment her face hit the pillow.

* * *

The next day passed with absolutely no incident, which was a bit surprising. During the day, Hamuko had managed to sneak a couple looks back at Minato to see what he was up to… and found him asleep. Hamuko had no idea what he did all night, but whatever it was made him sleep through half of class all day long. This Minato guy was a mystery to her. He knew a bunch of stuff no one else in SEES seemed to know, apparently had the same power as her, and spent all class sleeping. He even slept through Ekoda's lessons, which really took some guts. Hamuko had never seen anyone escape Ekoda's scanning gaze, but someone, Minato could.

On the way to school that morning, Yukari had stopped her and Minato and said that they needed to come to the lounge on the fourth floor that night. Minato had left ahead of her with Junpei, so she'd left school with Yukari, which gave her a chance to talk to her. Instead of taking the monorail, the two of them decided to head back via the Midnight Bridge so they'd have time to stop at Paulownia Mall. It actually had been Yukari's idea to go; Hamuko didn't need any more clothes right now, and the only store she really had interest in going to was Power Records, where she ended up picking up Reiko Tanaka's new CD.

After Yukari had taken Hamuko into Be Blue V about fifteen times and for what Yukari assured Hamuko was the _last_ time, Hamuko decided to shift the conversation to the command room thing that was going on tonight.

"So why do I need to go up to the third floor tonight anyways?" Hamuko asked.

"Mitsuru-sempai didn't really say. If I had to guess, they probably want to ask you to join our group."

"Oh."

"You're gonna say yes, right?"

Hamuko frowned. "…Probably. I mean, not like there's anything else to do here…"

Yukari suddenly stopped walking. The sudden stop caused Hamuko to walk a few steps ahead of Yukari without realizing it. "What, so you don't have a reason to fight?"

Hamuko looked away from Yukari's indignant expression. She wasn't even sure why she was here, or why she'd even ended up in their dorm filled with Persona users. But somehow she felt compelled to help them out. Besides, it seemed a bit stupid to not do anything now that she knew about all this. She couldn't just return to a normal school life when she knew that the world turned all crazy-wonky at midnight and there were a bunch of monsters preying on people's minds that ran around then that only they could kill.

"…Forget I asked," Yukari said. She still looked a bit grumpy, but it faded quickly enough as she spoke again. "So I was walking around school earlier, and it turns out everyone's talking about us being in some kinda threesome with Minato-kun! I just _know_ Stupei's behind this."

"Hey, don't be so hard on the guy! He's actually pretty nice when you get to know him," Hamuko said. Her soft smile faded quickly as she continued. "If anyone's behind it, it's Minato himself. Oh, sure, he _looks_ nice enough, but lately I've just been wanting to…" She made motions in the air like she was strangling someone. "You know what I mean?"

"...Okay, is _this_ what you were yelling about last night?" Yukari asked.

"It's not funny!" Hamuko cried. "It's not!"

"Whatever you say," Yukari said. She reached into one of her bags. "So hey, which one of these chokers do you think looks better? The pink one or the white one?" She held them both up to her neck. Hamuko smiled and pointed at the white one. "Okay, I think I'll wear this one tomorrow, then."

They began to walk to the dorm, discussing such things like how Ekoda was way too strict about everything, and how Hamuko liked the school, and other things like to that. Really, Yukari was the one doing most of the talking; Hamuko just listened most of the time. It ended up taking longer than expected for the two of them to make it back to the dorm. By the time they made it back, night had already fallen. Upon walking in, they found no one sitting in the lounge.

"…I guess they're all up in the command room waiting for us," Yukari said. Hamuko and Yukari placed their bags on the counter next to the sign-in sheet and walked upstairs. They were greeted by Ikutsuki's voice as they pushed the doors to the command room open.

"Ah, there you are," Ikutsuki said with a smile. Hamuko and Yukari both walked in. As they walked in, it occurred to Hamuko she hadn't actually been in this room before. There was a large bank of consoles on the wall to her left, and in front of her, a table that Ikutsuki, Mitsuru, Minato, and a silver haired man were sitting around. He was probably the Akihiko Minato had mentioned. Hamuko noticed that Minato was sitting in the furthest seat from Ikutsuki possible. "I'm glad that you're okay. The reason I asked you here is because I needed to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Well, about things that you likely have questions about," Ikutsuki said back. Hamuko noted he dodged an actual answer with that. "Please have a seat."

The two sat down. "Oh, I believe I mentioned him earlier, but this is Akihiko," Ikutsuki said.

"How ya doin'?" Akihiko asked. Hamuko smiled.

"Good, thanks," Hamuko said. Ikutsuki nodded in approval and began to speak.

"Okay, let me start off by asking you this. Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours?"

"Oh, wait, did you call me up here to explain the Dark Hour and Personas to me?" Hamuko cut in. "You don't have to do that, Minato-kun already did."

"You did?" The three eldest members of their group looked toward Minato, whose expression had not changed. Minato nodded.

"I'm sorry, sempai, I asked him to go ahead and tell Hamuko-chan about everything after she woke up," Yukari said. Mitsuru didn't look too bothered, though.

"That's fine, that saves us a bit of time, then," Mitsuru said. She looked toward Hamuko. "We would like you to lend us your strength. We've already prepared an Evoker for you, and Arisato's already joined, as well."

Hamuko looked at everyone in the room, particularly at Yukari and Minato. Yukari, who was her friend but definitely wanted her to join on, and Minato, that guy who was such an enigma she had no idea what was going through his head 95% of the time, but probably wanted her to join. Besides, if she had this power, she might as well use it, right?

"Okay, I'll do it," Hamuko said. Yukari gave a breath of relief.

"I was afraid you'd say no…" Yukari said. She straightened up. "Welcome aboard!"

Mitsuru reached under the table and pulled out two suitcases, which she placed on top of the table and unlatched. The tops appeared to be spring loaded, as the moment Mitsuru unlatched them, they swung open. Inside each suitcase was what appeared to be a handgun, and a red armband much like the one Hamuko had seen Yukari wearing on the night of the dorm attack.

"These are your Evokers," Mitsuru explained. "You will be responsible for the upkeep of them, though I can't imagine they will take much maintenance since they don't fire real bullets. Also, you will need to wear your SEES band and your school uniform at all times during club activities."

 _Meaning monster slaying,_ Hamuko thought to herself. She took her Evoker and the red band from the suitcase, and Minato did the same. Ikutsuki straightened up.

"And with that done, I believe we can move on to the third point of the night." All eyes turned toward Ikutsuki. "For a long time, Mitsuru and Akihiko were the only Persona users we had. But our number has recently jumped to five. Therefore, starting tonight at 12:00 AM, I'd like to commence the exploration of Tartarus."

Hamuko blinked. Okay, that had never come up before. "What's Tartarus?"

"You haven't seen it?" Yukari asked.

"I've only seen it a couple times, myself," Minato said. "It's this big tower thing that only shows up during the Dark Hour. I _think_ Akihiko found me near it that night before I got moved into this dorm…" He hesitated for a moment while he spoke, like he wasn't quite sure if he was remembering that right.

"Yeah, you were passed out and delirious near it," Akihiko said. "It's the best place for us to train, most of all. You can think of it as a Shadow nest."

Hamuko felt a chill move through her body at that thought. A whole nest of things like that monster she'd fought on top of the dorm…

"But Senpai, what about your injury?" Yukari asked.

"Since Akihiko hasn't fully recovered yet, he'll only come as far as the entrance," Mitsuru said. Akihiko sighed, and looked a bit disappointed.

"Yeah, I know," Akihiko said.

"Well, I'm sure he won't complain, as long as you don't go too far in. Since we're dealing with Shadows, Tartarus isn't something we can avoid," Ikutsuki said.

"I'm not so sure about this…" Yukari said.

"We'll be fine!" Hamuko said. She looked toward Ikutsuki. "Oh wait, what about you, Ikutsuki-san?"

"I'll stay here. After all, I can't summon a Persona…"

* * *

Hamuko realized something was off as Akihiko led them to Tartarus. For one, the path they were taking was the way to school. Every time they passed an intersection, she expected them to turn onto some other path, but they never did. She was beginning to feel rather confused as they finally turned into the road that led up to the school gates. Akihiko stopped right in front of them and checked his watch. Before they had left, Mitsuru had brought them all their weapons, which were now being carried in duffel bags, except for Hamuko's naginata, which was being carried in what she was sure was a hockey stick bag.

Hamuko anxiously looked around at the others. None of the other four seemed confused. Not even Minato.

"...Um, why are we—"

And at that moment, the time shifted over. There was a very loud rumbling sound, and Hamuko took a step back as the building in front of them began to rise out of the ground. Structures began to rise up all around what had once been their school, and soon the building began to look less like a school and more like something out of an MC Escher painting.

Hamuko blinked, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again. "That just happened, didn't it?"

"Yep. This is Tartarus," Yukari said.

Hamuko stared at the tower for a moment, and then looked toward Akihiko and Mitsuru. "Our school just turned into the nest for all Shadows. Okay, cool. When do we start?"

"Heh. I like your enthusiasm." Akihiko looked about ready for a battle himself. "Actually, this is our first time exploring it. Mitsuru and I have only ever gone in to take a peek. Still, there has to be some clue in there about the Dark Hour."

"Akihiko, while I respect your enthusiasm, you won't be accompanying us today," Mitsuru said. Akihiko gave a dejected sigh.

"I know, I know. You don't have to remind me," Akihiko said. With that, Mitsuru pulled out a key and unlocked the lock holding the two parts of the school gate together. The padlock hit the ground, and Mitsuru pushed the gate open, allowing the other four of them to walk on toward Tartarus. The way in was blocked by a large double door, which easily opened.

The entrance to Tartarus looked almost more like a floating platform to Hamuko. There were no walls, only a shifting mass of buildings on the outside. Several columns extended from the marble floor and appeared to hold up the rest of Tartarus all on their own. In the center of the room was a large staircase that led up to a massive, intricately designed clock with what appeared to be a door where the 6 o'clock position would be.

To Hamuko's left was a door.

The door was standing on its own in the middle of the floor. It was colored a deep velvet blue color, and there seemed to be a bright light coming out from behind it. Velvet blue… Was that what she thought it was? Just as she began to move in the direction of the door, a hand seized her wrist.

"Later," Minato whispered. "When no one's looking. The others can't see it."

Hamuko looked toward the others, and she realized Minato was right. Whenever they looked their direction, their eyes just passed over the Velvet Room's door. It was invisible to them.

"Hey, hurry up you two!"Akihiko yelled. Minato released Hamuko's wrist and walked over to where the others were gathered in front of the staircase. Hamuko followed after, and stopped next to Minato. She put her hockey stick bag down and looked toward Mitsuru.

"This is Tartarus," Mitsuru said. She gave a chuckle. "Or rather, the entrance. The labyrinth that makes up much of Tartarus lies at the top of that door."

"First, we'll have you three get a feel for the place. Why don't you go have a look around?" Akihiko asked.

"What? By ourselves?" Yukari asked.

"In the monster infested giant maze-tower?" Hamuko added.

"We're not asking you to go very far, and I'll be feeding you information from here," Mitsuru said. For the first time, Hamuko noticed a motorcycle with a radio placed on top of it nearby the stairs. She looked toward Mitsuru again.

"You're not coming with us?" Hamuko asked.

"The structure of Tartarus changes every day, so someone needs to stay at the entrance to give support. Mitsuru's Persona's special abilities allow her to do that," Akihiko explained. "We're also going to appoint a leader to make any necessary decisions."

Hamuko blinked. A leader? She looked toward Minato. He was easily the most capable out of the three of them. He'd taken lead when that Shadow attacked the dorms and managed to encourage her into using the Evoker so she could kill the Shadow. At the very least, he should lead for this trip into—

"Hamuko-chan should do it."

Hamuko wheeled toward Minato, her mouth gaping. "What?"

"You're easily the strongest out of all of us," Minato said. "You saw your power. You killed that Shadow like it was nothing."

"But you're the one that actually fought it!"

"All I did was distract it," Minato said. "You're the one who actually killed it."

"Besides, you summoned your Persona like it was nothing," Yukari piped in. "I don't think I could do that in a million years."

"It seems the vote is overwhelmingly in your favor, Arisato," Mitsuru said. Hamuko frowned before giving a sigh. Looked like she didn't have much of a choice.

"Okay, I'll lead you guys," Hamuko said with a smile. Mitsuru nodded, and then reached into her pocket before pulling out two earpieces. She handed them to Hamuko and Minato, who fitted them into their ears.

"What are these?" Hamuko asked.

"They're communicators to be used during travel through Tartarus," Mitsuru explained. "I will give support through these while you're exploring."

Hamuko nodded and walked back over to her hockey stick bag, unzipping it before pulling out the naginata she had brought with her. She looked over toward Minato and Yukari, who were both pulling out a short sword and a bow, respectively. Hamuko noticed Yukari had brought a quiver of arrows with her that she'd now strapped onto her back. Once that was taken care of, she nodded toward the other two and started up the stairs to the clock. Upon reaching the top, Hamuko realized there was a strange veil in front of the doorway in the clock.

"…I don't think we'll be able to head back through once we go through this doorway," Hamuko said.

"Why do you say that?" Yukari asked.

"Something about this doorway looks weird," Hamuko said.

"We should be careful, then," Minato said. He pushed past Hamuko and headed into the doorway, passing easily through the veil. Just as Hamuko had suspected, he disappeared after heading through the veil.

"Hey! Don't go through without knowing what's on the other side!" Hamuko yelled, and ran through. The sound of her shoes on marble made her stop and look around. The interior of Tartarus much resembled that of their school, just bloodier, and with fewer doors.

"Hey, wait up, you two!"

Yukari's sudden voice caused Hamuko to turn around. Yukari was standing in front of a blank wall that looked exactly like the walls around them, with no doorway in sight. So she'd been right.

_"Can you all hear me?"_

Hamuko jumped at the loud voice, and then realized who it was. "Mitsuru-sempai?"

"Loud and clear," Minato said.

_"Alright. Now, based on your current location, you can expect to encounter enemies any minute. They shouldn't be too tough, but proceed with caution. Practice makes perfect."_

"Got it," Yukari said. There was a click as the connection dropped, and Yukari said, "Why is she always like that?"

Hamuko felt the hair on the back of her neck raise, and shushed Yukari. "I think one's nearby." Just as she said that, a blob of blackness crawled its way out from behind the corner. She ran forward and brought her naginata down on the Shadow, cleaving it rather neatly in half. It was only after she cleaved it in half that she noticed that the mask it had was the same as the one those pieces of the Shadow from the Dorm had worn. The same kind of Shadow?

"Hey! Hurry up you guys!" Hamuko yelled. "We've got Shadows to kill and less than sixty minutes to do it!"

"…Why is she so eager?" Minato asked Yukari. He didn't get an answer before Hamuko drew her Evoker and shot herself. The sound of shattering glass heralded the appearance of Hamuko's Orpheus. There was a sound much like an explosion as the Orpheus sent out a fireball at the coming Shadow, incinerating it.

"Hey, save some for me!" Yukari yelled, running forward. Minato pressed his hand on his face.

"I'm surrounded by bloodthirsty women. This is absolutely _wonderful,"_ he complained before walking after the two of them.

* * *

The three of them together managed to take down quite a few Shadows in the space of time that passed. Actually, Hamuko wasn't sure how long they'd been on this floor. It had to be quite a long time. The longer they stayed on this floor, the more Shadows that seemed to appear. It was like they were coming out of the walls, which considering where they were, seemed likely.

After defeating another group, Mitsuru called them over their communicators. _"Alright, I think you should head back. I'm getting a bad feeling."_

Hamuko frowned and turned around. She found herself facing the dark hallway they had just come down. "A bad feeling? Like what?"

 _"I'm not sure,"_ Mitsuru said. _"There should be an Access Point somewhere on that floor. You can use it to return to the entrance."_

Hamuko nodded, and turned toward Yukari and Minato. "Well, you heard her. Let's go find that—"

She heard a sound behind her, and turned around.

"Did you hear that?" Hamuko asked. Minato looked more than a bit nervous.

"We should get out of here," Minato said.

The sound came again. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear the sound of clattering chains.

"What is that?" Yukari asked. The clattering of chains grew louder. A shape became visible in the distant darkness. It was a humanoid being, with its entire body covered in a red cloak. Its face, save the space over one eyeball, was covered in bloodied bandages. Around its torso floated two interlocked chains, the obvious source of the sound. In its hands, it carried two long barreled revolvers.

Hamuko felt her heart give a loud thump.

_"RUN!"_

She broke off into a run down the opposite end of the hallway, Minato and Yukari both following. The clattering of the chains indicated the approach of the Shadow, and Hamuko knew if she stopped, they were dead. She turned down another hallway and ran down it as fast as she could. Yukari both turned down the hallway as well, but just as Minato moved from around the corner, a gunshot rang out. Minato grabbed his shoulder in pain and tumbled to the ground. He pulled himself to his feet long enough to run after Hamuko and Yukari and duck behind another corner. He buckled and slid to the ground again after reaching them.

"Agh… shit," Minato grunted. He attempted to pull himself to his feet once more, but he seemed too weak to do so again. Hamuko realized why when she saw the large bleeding wound in Minato's shoulder.

_"Takeba, what's going on?"_

Yukari and Hamuko both jumped as they heard Mitsuru's voice come through the earpiece again. Yukari gave a few rasping breaths before answering Mitsuru. "I don't know, we were suddenly attacked by this gun carrying Shadow!"

"Minato's injured," Hamuko added. "Mitsuru-senpai, where's that Access Point you were talking about?"

_"Luckily, you're close. But that Shadow's still nearby. You'll need to distract it before you can activate the Access Point."_

Hamuko looked around the corner again. "I have an idea," Hamuko said. "Yukari, make sure Minato doesn't bleed to death. I'm going to go distract that Shadow."

Yukari crouched down beside Minato. She stared down at her Evoker for a moment before grabbing it and putting it against her head. She took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. The shattering of glass heralded the appearance of a Persona; one Hamuko hadn't seen the whole time they were inside Tartarus. Above Yukari appeared a woman chained to a floating cow head shaped throne. Yukari dropped to one knee and put a hand on Minato's shoulder. The woman threw her head back, and a white energy began to gather around Minato's shoulder. Minato winced, and Hamuko had to look away as it looked like his flesh began to grow back at the site of the wound. However, it seemed to do the trick. The wound was no longer bleeding.

Hamuko slowly walked toward the hallway they had escaped from the Shadow from. She could hear the sound of clattering chains from just around the corner. She wouldn't have much time to do this. She lifted her Evoker to her head and pulled the trigger, summoning Orpheus. Orpheus flew out into the hallway just as the Shadow was about to turn into the hallway the three of them were hiding in, and flew over the Shadow's head, and then began flying in the opposite direction from their hiding place. She felt a headache grow the further away Orpheus got from her. Something told her that Personas weren't supposed to go this far away from the host mind.

The sound of clattering chains gradually got further and further away. Hamuko dropped to one knee and finally let her Evoker drop as Orpheus faded away. She looked toward Yukari and Minato.

"We need to go now before it realizes I tricked it," Hamuko said. "Minato, can you walk?"

"It shot me in the shoulder, not the knee," Minato grunted. He brushed Yukari's hand away from his still very nasty looking wound and shakily got to his feet. "I'll be fine."

"Let's get out of here before it comes back," Yukari said. Hamuko nodded, and the three of them ran out from behind the corner and back down the hallway. Hamuko saw the yellow light of the Access Point before she even reached it.

She came to a stop in front of a device with a strange glowing yellow core. It was large enough for someone to step through, and now that Hamuko thought about it, touching it would likely be enough to activate it.

"Hey, I hear that thing getting closer again!" Minato yelled. Hamuko looked behind her, and then ran forward and touched the device. There was a bright flash of light, and the three of them disappeared from the floor just as the Shadow reached the Access Point. They landed rather roughly in the entrance of Tartarus and hit the ground. Akihiko ran forward to the three of them.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Akihiko asked. Hamuko winced and looked up at him.

"Me and Yukari are fine, but Minato's hurt," Hamuko said. Akihiko looked back at Mitsuru, who nodded and ran over as well. The two of them crouched next to Hamuko, who pushed herself up and looked toward the stairs. Just what _was_ that thing?


	6. Lost Your Answer

"Ow!"

Minato winced and pulled away a bit from Mitsuru. He avoided looking down at the wound her hands were hovering over. Every time he looked down at his wound, the grotesque sight of flesh writhing over exposed bone greeted him. Hovering over Mitsuru was the Persona Penthesilea, who was glowing with a soft white energy—the same kind Mitsuru's hands were glowing with.

"Healing spells only heal surface wounds. They do not take the edge off of the pain," Mitsuru said. Her focus was entirely on the wounded shoulder. "Please bear it."

Minato nodded and looked down at his feet. Every time he thought about what was going on up at his shoulder he wanted to vomit. Worst part was, this wasn't a Diarahan or even a Diarama. At best, it would heal to a very nasty bruise. He'd gotten lucky; the shot had only shot off the flesh _around_ the bone. He didn't want to think of what the healing process would have been like had it actually pierced the bone.

The group of them was inside Tartarus' lobby, with Minato sitting on the stairs and Mitsuru crouched in front of him. Hamuko, Yukari, and Akihiko were hovering around different areas of the lobby. At one point, while Yukari and Akihiko hadn't been looking, Minato saw Hamuko finally enter the Velvet Room door. She'd come out carrying a glowing blue card that had quickly disappeared once she'd exited.

Minato actually hadn't gotten any new Personas while he was exploring Tartarus. He already knew why all of his old Personas were gone; his Personas from his previous life had formed into the Universe when he'd sealed Nyx. He had Orpheus again because Orpheus was his natural Persona; the one he'd use if he _didn't_ have the Wild Card. Igor _had_ said that his abilities were weaker now, so maybe even Personas like Pixie and Asparas were too strong for him. He really was pathetic if that was the case.

"So you can use healing spells, Mitsuru-senpai?" Hamuko asked. Mitsuru nodded.

"Though Takeba's Persona is better suited for medical skills than my own is," Mitsuru said. Yukari looked toward the clock at the top of the stairs.

"What _was_ that thing? It felt really powerful," Yukari said.

"I'm not sure," Mitsuru said. "Akihiko and I have never run into a Shadow of that strength before."

"Think it's one of _those_ Shadows?" Akihiko asked.

Hamuko caught the slip. "'Those'?" she quietly repeated. Minato already knew what Akihiko meant. An Arcana Shadow.

_It's nothing close to that… I think._

Actually, Minato wasn't quite sure _what_ the Reaper was. He'd always avoided the Shadow when he travelled through Tartarus after learning very quickly that anything Fuuka called "Death" was _not_ something you wanted to hang around to fight.

"I'm not sure," Mitsuru admitted. "Perhaps it would be a good idea to suspend investigations. Two of our members are now too injured to fight, and that Shadow is too powerful for any of us to defeat."

There was a strange finality to Mitsuru's words. It actually took Minato a moment to realize what she meant. "Wait a minute, you mean we're not going to come back here?"

Everyone turned toward Mitsuru. Minato looked around at them for a moment before continuing. "The only reason I got hurt was because of my own carelessness. I can still fight!"

"Arisato, you nearly lost your arm," Mitsuru retorted. "And it will likely be several weeks before it is fully healed. How to you expect to wield your sword with an injured sword arm, much less fight that Shadow if you run into it again?"

"Minato-kun, I think she's got a point," Hamuko said a bit reluctantly. Minato ignored her and continued on anyways.

"You managed to warn us about that Shadow a few minutes in advance, Mitsuru," Minato said. "I think we can avoid it so long as you warn us beforehand."

"What, so you're saying that if we run into it again we run?" Yukari asked.

"Pretty much," Minato said. "Mitsuru's right, it's too strong for us to fight. All of the other Shadows on that floor only scratched us. That thing blew my shoulder off. But if Mitsuru warns us, we can get away from it before it can find us."

All while they had said this, Mitsuru had been healing Minato's shoulder still. She finally lifted her hands from Minato's shoulder, and he ventured a peek at it. There were very thin layers of skin covering the wound, but Mitsuru had managed to grow back all of the muscle that the Reaper had shot off. Now he just had the long healing process afterwards. Mitsuru stood up in a way that meant she could see the whole group of them, but her words as she spoke indicated she was talking to Minato.

"If you're confident you can continue, then we will continue," Mitsuru said. "Though I rather doubt how safe such ventures would be…"

"Come on, Mitsuru," Akihiko said. "There's no fight that didn't have some kind of danger. If you ask me, this just adds a little bit more fun to things."

Mitsuru sighed. "This isn't a game, Akihiko…"

Yukari groaned. "Ugh, can we just get out of here already? It's really cold in here…" She rubbed her arms a couple times. Minato agreed with the sentiment on the cold. There was a reason they always wore their winter uniforms when on "official SEES business".

Hamuko yawned. "I'm feeling a little tired, too…"

Mitsuru nodded. "That's an affect of the Dark Hour. You'll get fatigued more easily. Don't worry, though, you'll adapt."

Minato stood up off of the stairs. "Then can we go? I'm feeling pretty tired too." He supposed he still wasn't "adapted" to the Dark Hour yet, either.

"I suppose so," Mitsuru said. She turned toward the door they had entered Tartarus through and began walking that way. Akihiko began following after, and Minato decided that was permission enough. Even with the whole "getting attacked by the Reaper" thing, he thought they'd done pretty well. He was halfway to the door when he realized Hamuko wasn't following, and turned around. She was standing by the stairs with a dazed look on her face.

"Hey, Hamuko-chan, are you coming?" Minato called. She flinched at his words, and looked toward Minato.

"Oh, yeah, coming!" Hamuko called, and ran up to Minato. She fell in step next to him and the two of them headed out of Tartarus.

* * *

After returning to the dorm that night, Mitsuru had bound Minato's shoulder with bandages so the wound was less likely to become infected. However, bandages did not heal everything, and every time he so much as twitched his shoulder, sharp bolts of pain shot through his entire arm and upper chest. Unfortunately, he still couldn't do a thing about that but let it heal on its own. There had still been the issue of the massive hole in his uniform, too. At least Fashion Club had taught him enough sewing skills to do a rather crude patch up job on said massive hole. The patch he'd placed on it was rather obvious, but he didn't have much of a choice at the moment. He'd have to get a new jacket and shirt ordered.

The next morning, Minato overslept. He glared at his alarm clock as he climbed out of bed. Best he could tell, he'd turned it off in his sleep, and yet no one had bothered coming to wake him up when he never came down for breakfast that morning. Since Mitsuru and Akihiko always left early (Mitsuru for god-knows-what-reason, and Akihiko because he was an exercise nut and needed to get his early morning jog in), either Yukari or Hamuko had to be behind his oversleeping. Judging by evidence, probably Hamuko. She didn't seem to like him very much. Hell if he knew why. He ran out the door half dressed and only finished putting his jacket on when he was already on the monorail. From there, it was a straight sprint to the school.

Upon reaching the school gates, Minato gave a sigh of relief. They hadn't been closed; he wasn't technically late yet… he still had five minutes before the bell rang; plenty of time to get upstairs and to homeroom…

"Heeey! Minato!"

Minato nearly tripped as he heard Junpei call his name. Against his better judgment, Minato stopped and turned to face Junpei. It was very obvious Junpei had slept in as well; his clothes were disheveled and his baseball cap didn't even seem to be completely on his head. He ran up next to Minato and bent over, placing his hands on his knees in order to catch his breath.

"Junpei, they have alarm clocks for a reason," Minato chided.

"Shut… the hell… up…" Junpei wheezed. He turned his head so he could look up at Minato's face, but his eyes ended up drifting to the patch on Minato's jacket. "What… did you do… to your uniform?"

Minato scowled. "I was mauled by a bear."

"I told you to… watch out for those things, man!" Junpei said.

"Can this wait? We're going to be late."

Junpei straightened up. "Yeah, yeah." And with that, Junpei started running again, leaving Minato in the dust for about two seconds before Minato started sprinting after him, ignoring the screaming pain in his shoulder as he sprinted. He was pretty sure it was bleeding again from that sprint, but that's what those bandages were for. Minato very quickly overtook Junpei and made it to the double doors of the school in time to push them open and run inside.

He stopped at his locker. Three minutes to get to class and he still needed to get his indoor shoes on. He ran to his shoe locker and pulled his shoes off without untying them. He shoved them inside and pulled out his indoor shoes before starting to pull them on as well. He glanced at the clock. Two minutes. Junpei was just making it inside.

"Dude… you run too fast," Junpei said.

"Less talking, more getting to class on time!" Minato called before shooting off toward the stairs. He was probably going to be feeling this in the morning but right now his priorities centered on making it to class on time. Junpei didn't even bother putting his indoor shoes on before sprinting after him. The two of them ran neck and neck upstairs, and finally, that glorious door was in sight. Junpei made it through the door first, and upon making it through the doorway threw his hands up in the air.

"Yeah! Junpei made it to school on time!" Junpei yelled. This, of course, caught the attention of everyone in the room. Yukari and Hamuko, who had been chatting at their desks, looked toward Junpei. Yukari looked like she really did not want to be there right now, but Hamuko had a rather smug look on her face. Minato glared at her.

"It's usually good manners to check on someone when they wake up late," Minato said. Hamuko only smirked.

"I think we can say this is revenge for all the stuff you've been pulling lately," Hamuko said cooly.

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," Minato said. Which was true. Hamuko had been acting like… well, _this_ toward him for the past couple days, hell if he knew why. Hamuko huffed and turned away.

"You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about!"

" _What are you talking about?"_

Except no one heard that last part, because the bell rung at that moment. From behind Minato came the sound of the door sliding open, and he wheeled around, to find himself face to face with Ms. Toriumi, the last person he wanted to see ever. His face turned the color of chalk.

"Arisato, Iori, sit down."

Minato didn't intend on arguing. Especially not with that expression she had on her face. He could have sworn he saw a kind of annoyance there she didn't have when addressing other students. He very quickly walked over to his desk in the back of the room and sat down, his face still pale. It was really, really best not to bother with Toriumi right now.

* * *

"Hey, Minato, school's over!"

Minato groaned and lifted his head. When had he fallen asleep…? He looked up at Junpei, and groaned. He'd slept the whole day, hadn't he? He looked down at his desk again, and groaned as he saw a detention slip there. His head hit the desk again. He'd slept through the whole day, and Ms. Toriumi had noticed for once.

"Aw, come on, you're goin' back to sleep?" Junpei gave a groan. "Whatever, I'm heading off. I guess I'll see ya tonight or somethin'."

"Yeah, see ya…" Minato lifted a hand and gave a wave. Tonight… yeah, that was about right. Junpei had joined SEES not long after he had, if he remembered right. The guy had been so excited to join SEES at first… he hadn't been for very long after that, when he'd gotten all pissed off at him because he'd become leader instead of Junpei. He gave another groan and pulled himself out of the chair. It looked like everyone else had already left, including Hamuko and Yukari. Minato really had to wonder about those two. They were _always_ together. _Always._ Maybe those rumors Junpei was spreading about them being lesbians weren't too off base after all. He headed out of the room and out of school.

Minato thought about returning to the dorm. In fact, he made it all the way there before changing his mind, and turned away from the door just a few feet from it, instead taking the road down to Naganaki Shrine. He didn't often visit Naganaki Shrine, but today he was going to make an exception. Besides, all he had waiting for him at the dorm was Junpei, and later tonight, Tartarus. He jerked his arm, sending a fresh jolt of pain through his shoulder. Somehow he doubted Mitsuru would allow him to fight with this injury, which was bull; he'd fought with worse before. Not that he could tell her that, of course.

He slowly climbed the steps to the shrine, pausing for a moment at the top to observe the courtyard. It didn't look like anyone was there today… not even Maiko. Well, school had just started, and it was likely her issues with her parents hadn't started yet. Minato paused and frowned as he thought that. That had… just come easily. It didn't even bother him that he realized that was inevitable. He sighed and rested his back against the fence. What was wrong with him?

"Arf."

Minato looked down and blinked. A white Shiba Inu was standing at his feet, staring up at him with the kind of sad look that breed tended to have. "Heya Koromaru."

Minato bent down and scratched the dog behind the ears. Koromaru tilted his head to the side in an expression of confusion, but he didn't object to Minato's scratches. Minato was just getting ready to scratch the fur on Koromaru's neck too when the dog suddenly walked away and then down the stairs leading into the shrine. Minato sighed. Koromaru was on his routine. Minato supposed it was time to get back to his routine, too. The sky was beginning to darken; he'd worry the others if he didn't return sometime soon. He had to stick to his routine for now… at least until he could change things. He wasn't even entirely sure he could do that.

* * *

"Hold your horses… this is freakin' heavy."

Junpei shoved the doors to the dorm open just as Minato was walking up to the dorm again. Minato groaned. He really was late. He made his way up the stairs into the dorm and walked in just as Akihiko was introducing him. Akihiko, Junpei, Yukari, and Hamuko were standing in the entranceway, listening to Akihiko talk.

"Oh, there you are!" Yukari said. "Ugh, can you believe this? _Junpei's_ got the Potential!"

"Big shocker," Minato stated almost sarcastically. Hamuko shot him a glare, much to Minato's confusion.

"Hey, it was a big shock to me!" Junpei said. "I just kinda wish I could remember what happened last night when Senpai found me. He said it's completely normal though. Not rememberin' anything and being confused and stuff. Did you guys know that?"

Minato blinked. Now that he thought about it, he didn't really remember when Akihiko found him. It was all foggy in his head. More like a dream than a real memory. Hamuko, on the other hand, looked confused. Well, she wouldn't have experienced that. He hadn't the first time around, after all.

"…That didn't happen to me," Hamuko spoke up.

"Big deal. It happens to everyone else… But man, I was shocked to find out about you guys. I had no idea. Who'da thought that _you_ guys spend your spare time fightin' _monsters?"_

Minato decided to take his leave at that point. He didn't want to stick around while Junpei was being Junpei. Or really stick around this at all.

"Hey, at least we don't—" Hamuko turned to look at Minato. "Hey, wait, where are you going?"

"Bed," Minato said, perhaps a bit more gruffly than he'd intended. Hamuko's brow creased, and she ran after Minato. Minato realized she was following after him, and sped up a fair bit. Just as his foot touched the second floor landing, Hamuko grabbed Minato by the shoulder. He gave her a rather flat look.

"What on earth is your problem?" Hamuko cried.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Hamuko yelled. Her face was beet red with anger. "Seriously, did someone drop you on your head or something when you were little? All you've done is brush everyone off and act like a complete jerk for the past few days!"

Minato said nothing, which only seemed to make Hamuko angrier. "You keep hiding things, and I swear to god, you're just bringing them up to tease me with them! You don't hang out with anyone, either! Just spend all of your time in your stupid bedroom!"

"Why are you getting so worked up?" Minato asked.

 _"I don't know!_ But I'm sick of it! So just… stop already! Stop pulling all of this shit!"

"Give me one good reason I should listen to you."

"Because I'm your leader! You're the one who voted me leader in the first place!"

At that point, Minato drew his arm back and punched Hamuko. She stumbled down a few steps before catching herself on both railings. She glared at Minato before throwing herself at him and punching him in the face. Blood spurted from Minato's nose, and from the pain, he had a feeling it was broken. He ran forward with another punch, and it very quickly degenerated into a fist fight. Some part of Minato was aware of the fact that the others had heard the fight and were now running upstairs, but he honestly didn't give a damn at this point. Hamuko obviously didn't either, as she tackled him onto the actual floor landing. Minato fell back into a table, and he gave a gasp of pain. He was aware of a warm, wet feeling on his shoulder. He bit back the pain and threw himself at Hamuko again, except this time she seemed to have expected the blow and managed to dodge out of the way. She wheeled up to attack him again, and Minato prepared to strike back.

"Hey! Both of you stop it!"

Minato was suddenly aware of the fact that he was being jerked back by someone. It took him a moment to realize it was Akihiko, and that Hamuko was being held back by a very concerned looking Yukari. Junpei was standing to the side, and his expression was a mixture of confusion and shock. Hamuko wiped away some blood from her lip with the back of her hand. Both of them were covered in bruises; Minato had a black eye and Hamuko had a couple of cuts on her face. Sometime during the fight, Hamuko's hair had been knocked loose from its barrettes. She glared at Minato before pushing Yukari's hands off of her shoulders.

"I'm going to my room," Hamuko growled. She began to ascend the stairs. Minato stayed there until she was out of sight.

"You were way out of line, Minato," Akihiko growled.

"Like you and Shinjiro were any different…" Minato didn't realize what he'd said until Akihiko released him and gave a rather surprised and confused look. Yukari and Junpei looked just as confused.

"Shinjiro…? Who's that?" Junpei asked. Akihiko didn't answer him and looked over at Minato.

"How do you know about me and Shinji?!"

"…Forget it. I'm going to my room," Minato said. He walked away from the three others and toward his room. Upon grabbing the doorknob, Minato let out a swear. He'd forgotten to lock the stupid door on the way out that day. He shoved the door open and slammed it behind him, still not bothering to lock it. He collapsed on his bed and gave a frustrated groan. He was such an idiot. Such a fucking _idiot._

* * *

"Worthless."

_Minato stood firm upon the tower's marble roof. A chill wind blew around him, sending a chill down his spine, but he ignored it. His entire focus was on only one thing: the figure standing in front of him, its mask forever curled into a jeering smile._

"Fate cannot be changed. You had the power to do so before, but by your actions, you have lost that power."

_"Shut up," Minato snarled. He reached down to the holster by his waist and pulled a silver gun from it. He placed the gun against his temple, and the cold steel sent another shiver down his spine. The black winged figure looked almost amused at Minato's actions._

"And now actions you have taken in the waking world have jeopardized the ability for that power to even come about ever again."

_"Shut up!"_

_Without hesitation, Minato pulled the trigger. A jolt of intense pain shot through his head, and he felt a bit of warm fluid splatter out from his temple. His eyes widened, and he fell to the ground. He was… dying?_

_The figure stepped closer, jeering with its stolen face down at Minato's prone form._

"You wish to die, so you fight without hesitation. For this reason, you cannot change fate."

_It occurred to Minato at this point that he had to be dreaming. If he wasn't, he'd be dead by now. The figure bent down and grasped Minato's chin. It pushed up one finger, and Minato's chin tilted upward in accordance with the motion. The figure and Minato were now face to face, and the lack of breath from its perpetually open mouth was disturbing. As he stared into those empty black pools that had taken the place of its eyes, he could tell that it was staring back. It was only now with their faces so close that Minato could see with perfect clarity the face the being wore. Never in his life had Minato expected to see the face of someone who shouldn't even exist like this…_

_The figure folded its black wings up against its body. Its mouth opened slightly wider as it began to speak, just as Minato was thinking the thought about its face. When it spoke, the distortion its voice was normally plagued with was completely absent._

"You have lost your Answer, Minato-kun…"


	7. Minato Does Fear Mitsuru

"Hi, how are you?"

Hamuko's eyes fluttered open, and she gave a groan. She was vaguely aware of the fact that it was the Dark Hour, and that someone was sitting at the end of her bed. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Staring at her was a black haired boy wearing striped clothing, almost like a prisoner. She scowled, but she was actually rather surprised and confused.

"How did you get in here?" Hamuko asked. The boy gave a chuckle.

"I'm always with you," the boy said. Hamuko groaned and lay back down. She pulled the sheets up a little bit to cover her better, but didn't say anything else to the boy. There was a moment of silence from him just sitting there before she spoke up again.

"I'm not in the mood to talk," Hamuko said. The boy gave another chuckle.

"That's okay. You can just listen," the boy said, and he looked toward the door. "Soon, the end will come. I remembered, so I thought I should tell you." He looked toward Hamuko and gave a grin as he said that.

"…the end?" Hamuko asked.

"The end of everything," the boy said. "…But to be honest, I don't really know what it is."

"You don't know, huh…" Hamuko said. She pulled the covers up a little closer. The boy didn't seem to notice, and just sat at the end of the bed, staring at the door.

"…Recently, a strange flower has bloomed in your garden. I'm not quite sure how to describe it," the boy said. "It blooms with a different crown than the other flowers, and yet is similar to your own."

Hamuko gave a chuckle. "What is this, some odd extended metaphor?"

"…I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the end, but you should be careful," the boy said. He suddenly disappeared from the end of Hamuko's bed, and when he reappeared, he was standing at the foot of her bed. "I'll be watching you, even if you forget about me. Okay then, see you later!"

And then he disappeared once more. Hamuko groaned and pressed her face into her pillow. Hallucinatory little boys who talked about the end of the world. Could this day get any better? After a few moments, she drifted off to sleep again.

* * *

 Junpei and Yukari sitting at the table on the first floor eating breakfast when Minato and Hamuko walked downstairs. The two Arisatos seemed rather tired, and they had various bandages on their face to cover the bruises from the previous night. They sat down at the table on opposite sides of Junpei. Junpei frowned and put his spoon down.

"So do you guys always welcome people by beatin' the shit out of each other?" Junpei asked.

"Shut up," Minato growled. Junpei flinched and went back to his cereal. Yukari looked toward Minato.

"You don't look too good, Minato-kun," Yukari said.

"I didn't sleep well," Minato said.

"Aww. Bad dreams?"

"I don't dream," Minato grunted. After making the seal, he hadn't had a single dream, probably because his soul was elsewhere at the time. The dream about that thing had been the first he'd had since coming back, and like hell he was telling people he dreamed about that _thing_. They wouldn't even know what _it_ was, and if he had anything to say about it, they never would.

After Minato said that, there was an awkward silence that continued on until they all left for school. Minato expected there would be questions about the injuries at school, but in the end, he didn't get many questions about it, probably because of his constantly pissed off look. Hamuko seemed to have brightened up during the day, but she still had a nasty glare whenever she looked his direction. Even more surprising to Minato was that no one asked him who Shinjiro was, even though no one but Akihiko had known about him. That had been a dumb move. After that fight, Minato was beginning to realize that he was letting too much slip. He was the only one who knew what was going to happen, and he wasn't exactly doing a good job of keeping that fact hidden.

In the end, he made it through the day without much incident. He had thought about hanging out with Junpei after school, but then Hamuko had gotten to him first. And then, before any of them could do any hanging out, Mitsuru walked into the class room. She walked over to where the four of them were sitting close to the front of the class (with Minato standing since his desk wasn't at the front of the class to begin with).

"You two," Mitsuru pointed to Minato and Hamuko. "Come to the student council room. We need to have a talk."

And with that, she walked right out of the room. Minato blanched. It was sometimes hard to tell with Mitsuru, but she was pissed. He had a feeling he knew why, too. They were about to get the scolding of a lifetime… if they were _lucky._ He looked toward Hamuko, and then headed out the classroom door with Hamuko following after. Upon reaching the student council room, Minato found the door unlocked and headed on in. Mitsuru was standing in front of a table, waiting for them.

"Akihiko has informed me of what happened last night," Mitsuru said, and at that, Minato knew this was going to suck. Hamuko seemed blind to the danger they were in, but Minato was rather aware of it. The simplest way to put it was "oh crap."

"I have half a mind to remove you two from SEES. We exist to fight _Shadows_ , not ourselves. This is _unacceptable."_

Minato's thoughts went back to the nightmare from the previous night, and his already pale face somehow paradoxically got _paler._ Had he screwed up the timeline just by getting in a fight with Hamuko?

"Now, I'm allowing you to remain in SEES for now, but if this happens again…"

"Uh-huh…?" Hamuko asked, still not really seeming to understand.

"You two will both be executed."

At this point, sheets were darker than Minato. Memories of one _horrible_ visit to the hot springs hit him, and he pretty much just locked up. Really, it didn't even look like he comprehended what was going on. Hamuko, on the other hand, just looked confused.

"What do you mean by 'executed', Senpai?"

"If you two behave, you won't have to find out," Mitsuru said coolly, which only heightened Minato's fear. "Now, do we have an agreement?"

"Yes ma'am!" Minato squeaked. Hamuko raised an eyebrow at him before looking back toward Mitsuru.

"Um, I guess so…" Hamuko said, though she still didn't appear to understand what Mitsuru meant.

"…Can we go…?" Minato whimpered. Mitsuru nodded, and Minato didn't take any time in getting out the door. He gave a sigh of relief once he was on the other side of the door. The door opened behind him again, and Hamuko stepped out.

"Minato-kun, you're drenched in sweat," Hamuko noted. Minato jumped rather badly and turned around to face Hamuko.

"Wh-what? No. I'm fine!" Minato waved his hands in the air a bit. "Pay no attention to me!"

Hamuko frowned. "You know, that's the kind of thing that annoys me about you. You're always hiding things. Why can't you just say things right out?"

Minato looked a little guilty. He couldn't come out and say a lot of the things he was thinking, that was the thing. No one was even supposed to know the stuff he knew. He couldn't just come out and say, "Oh hey, you're going to die in a year to save the world". For one, she'd think he was crazy. Even if she believed him, how was one supposed to react to that? It was better for him to keep things secret, but with how he was pissing Hamuko off by doing so, he was wondering how much good it would be to keep things secret after all.

"So I guess we're going to have to start tolerating each other a bit more, huh," Minato said, changing the subject without really doing so.

"Yeah," Hamuko said. She sighed. "Alright, I'll try not to get so mad at you anymore."

"And I'll try to hide less things from you," Minato said. He paused for a moment before saying, "But in return, you have to date me."

"Wait, _what?"_

"Kidding," Minato said. Yukari and Junpei stepped out of their homeroom just as Hamuko decked Minato. Junpei blinked before grinning.

"A perfect 10!" Junpei yelled. Yukari had a rather annoyed expression, both at Junpei's yell and the fact that Minato was currently lying on his back in the middle of the hallway because Hamuko punched him. Again.

"Junpei, shut up," Minato and Hamuko said at the same time. Yukari gave a groan.

"We're heading back to the dorm. We're going to Tartarus tonight, right?" Yukari asked.

"Tartarus…? What's that? Sounds like toothpaste," Junpei commented. Hamuko ignored him and turned toward Yukari.

"If Mitsuru-senpai lets us, I'm thinking we'll go," Hamuko said. Minato got to his feet again and brushed himself off. He wasn't planning on retaliating for that punch if only because Mitsuru was probably standing right on the other side of that door, watching them with her amazing Student Council President powers, and making sure they didn't try to kill each other again.

"Okay, cool," Yukari said. "Then I'll see you again tonight. See ya, Hamuko!"

"I still don't know what Tartarus is," Junpei said, but he followed after Yukari anyways. Minato looked toward Hamuko again. Even with their difficulties lately, they were supposed to be getting along better, right? He might as well ask.

"You kind of punched me before I could ask, but I wouldn't mind hanging out sometime," Minato said.

"…Um. Yeah. Sorry about that," Hamuko said. "Oh, uh, sure. We can hang out."

Minato nodded. "Okay. I'm not in any clubs, so I should be free most days…"

"Okay." Hamuko said.

"So it's a date?"

"Don't make me punch you again."

Minato smiled. He suddenly realized this was the first time he'd had a really casual conversation with Hamuko. He'd been too caught up in his negative emotions over the past few days to really be able to have a conversation like this. Didn't mean he wasn't still a little mad about that stupid fight they had the previous night, but he understood why Hamuko had reacted the way she did now. And besides, if they weren't "buddy-buddy", Mitsuru would execute them. That was enough motivation for Minato to try to strike up a friendship.

Of course, all of these thoughts were kicked out of his head when he suddenly realized Hamuko was just staring off into space. Minato frowned in confusion for a moment before he realized what was going on. He'd always had that look (apparently, anyways) when he'd make a new Social Link. Had she just created a Social Link with _him?_

"…World Arcana?" Hamuko mumbled under her breath, confirming Minato's suspicions. He waved a hand in front of her face, and she snapped out of it. "Oh, sorry."

"Do you want to go to Wild Duck? I hear they've got this new peta-wac burger that I want to try," Minato said.

"You _like_ that stuff?"

"I burn a lot of calories sleeping all day."

Hamuko rolled her eyes. "Okay, sure. Let's go."

* * *

 "What the _hell!"_

"Junpei, stop freaking out."

"Why'd our school turn into a _giant tower?"_

"Junpei, seriously. We told you already. Shut up."

Yukari was already walking through the opened gate. "Come on, Stupei. Get your jaw off the ground already and hurry up."

Junpei shook his head and headed on into what had been the school grounds until about thirty seconds ago. Minato and Hamuko both followed after into Tartarus, Minato ignoring the protesting pains from a still injured shoulder as he carried the bag with his sword in it into the tower. They found Junpei gaping at the scenery of the inside of Tartarus.

"Whoa…. It's just as cool on the inside," Junpei said.

"Pull yourself together, Junpei. We've got shadows to kill," Minato said.

"While I appreciate your enthusiasm, Arisato, you won't be joining them today," Mitsuru input. Minato whirled on Mitsuru.

"What? _Why?"_

"Your shoulder is still injured, and until it fully heals, you hold a chance of permanently injuring it," Mitsuru said. "I'm sorry, but until it heals, you'll just have to stay here with Akihiko and I."

"Sorry Minato-kun. Looks like you're going to have to miss out on all of the fun," Hamuko teased.

"I fail to see how fighting Shadows is considered fun anyways," Minato grumbled. Hamuko only continued to give a smile that Minato swore to god was mocking him.

"So who's leading this little mission? Ooh, can I do it?" Junpei asked. Minato tensed. Oh Christ, he remembered this. He'd ended up leader, Junpei got pissed because he thought _he_ should be leader, and there was just a whole bunch of stuff that could have been avoided over that.

"We made Hamuko the leader, since Sempai's still injured," Yukari said. Junpei frowned, and, to Minato's astonishment, _didn't seem all that bothered._

"Huh. Well, alright," Junpei said. He gave a test swing of the imitation katana he'd brought with him. His stance and swing were completely wrong, though, which amused Minato. Junpei still couldn't get it right even in an alternate world.

"Alright, I guess we should head on in," Hamuko said. She started walking toward the stairs, but stopped just as she was about to pass Minato. She put a hand on his shoulder. "And chin up. I'm sure you'll be able to come with us soon." She continued walking on up the stairs, and passed through the veil to the next floor.

Minato sighed and leaned himself up against a pillar. He wasn't sure how to feel about this. After all, he'd never been left behind at the entrance before. Every time they'd come before, he'd been the leader, so he'd never been "volunteered" to remain. He never understood why Mitsuru wanted people to stay down at the entrance, either. He'd never gotten around to asking, but as far as he could tell, it was because she got lonely or something.

Akihiko spoke up after ten minutes passed with nothing happening. "Heh, sucks, huh?"

Minato grumbled and said nothing. He wished Mitsuru had warned him. Then he could have borrowed a manga off of Junpei and read that while they waited. Somewhere above them, Hamuko was beating the everloving crap out of a bunch of Shadows, and he was sitting down here with a half-useless arm. Though what Minato was really wondering about was why Akihiko wasn't taking this chance to ask him about why he knew about Shinjiro. Maybe Mitsuru had told him to keep quiet after threatening him with execution or something. Hell if Minato knew. He was starting to realize he didn't know the people in SEES as well as he thought he did.

A moment later, a strange drop of black liquid hit the ground next to Minato. He looked down at it before looking up at the ceiling. There was a large crack in the ceiling above them, and a black liquid appeared to be leaking out of it. It almost looked like the black substance Shadows were made of. Minato's eyes widened, and he took several steps away as a deluge of the black liquid rained from the ceiling and hit the floor where Minato had just been standing. Akihiko and Mitsuru both turned toward the puddle of sludge as it began to form into a few Shadows.

"How the hell did they get down here?"Akihiko yelled. Minato swore to himself as he realized what kind of Shadows these were. If he remembered right, Priestess Arcana Shadows were resistant against fire spells, meaning Agi wouldn't work on these Mayas and Tiaras. Oh, and they were all heading toward him.

 _What am I, some kind of Shadow magnet?_ Minato cried in his head. He reached for his Evoker, but the memory of the previous night's dream caused him to hesitate for a moment.

"Minato!" Akihiko yelled. There was the sound of glass shattering, and Akihiko's Persona manifested before punching away an attacking Tiara. Minato started at the blue suited Persona for a few moments before realizing, yes, they were still under attack. He finally drew his own Evoker and put it to his head. He knew Orpheus wouldn't do him much good, but he had to help somehow. He pulled the trigger, and at the moment he did, an image of a card flashed through his head. The Persona that appeared in front of Minato was _not_ Orpheus. It was a feminine humanoid covered in long, coarse black hair, with a face like an old doll's mask. Minato recognized the Persona well enough. It was Yomotsu-Shikome, a Persona he'd used for a brief period of time in the past. What he couldn't understand was why it had suddenly appeared now. Even more confusingly, it felt more… attuned to him for some reason. It was a hard feeling to describe, and it didn't hit Minato for a few moments why it felt different. This wasn't the same Shikome he'd used in the past. This one felt more like his Orpheus than the Shikome he used to use...

He didn't get much time to ponder that, because the fact that he'd summoned a strange new Persona was not lost on Mitsuru and Akihiko. In fact, they were rather startled by this Persona's sudden appearance. Akihiko had actually been startled enough that his Persona disappeared when Minato's appeared. Mitsuru nearly tripped over her bike.

"Arisato, your Persona—"

Minato decided not to waste any more time. They still had a rather large amount of Shadows trying to kill them, and things were going to go downhill fast if they didn't do something. "Mitsuru, call for backup!" He didn't stop to check if she was calling for help, and gave Shikome an order in his head. The Persona held its tendril-like arms out, and all of the sudden, several Shadows were seized by dark hairlike chains that had risen from the ground under them. The Shadows began to panic out of fear, and Minato took this to his advantage. Shikome gave off a loud shriek, and the Shadows all exploded into a black sludge. Minato gave a smirk. Ghastly Wail still worked as well on fearful Shadows as it always had.

"Minato, what the hell happened to your Persona?" Akihiko managed to yell out.

"I don't know either. I think I've got the same power Hamuko-chan does," Minato said. It was at that time that Hamuko's group came through the teleporter, and it was a gasp of surprise from Yukari that made Minato turn around to look at them.

"I think Senpai and I managed to take them all out," Minato said. "Sorry."

"Th-That's not the issue!" Yukari said. "That's not the same Persona you used the other day!"

"Nice Persona, Minato," Hamuko said. Yukari just gave her a strange look. Well, Hamuko was the only one who really knew about the fact that he had that same ability. Of course, that still left everyone else confused out of their minds.

"W-Wait a moment," Junpei interjected. "You're telling me he's got the same power as you?"

"Yeah," Hamuko said.

"And you _knew_ this and didn't tell anyone?"

"It never came up," Minato said, shrugging.

"None the less, this is a rather unexpected development," Mitsuru commented. "Though I'm curious how you two ended up with similar abilities…"

"Heh. Two people who can summon multiple Personas… this should get fun," Akihiko said. Minato gave a nervous chuckle at that before looking back toward the puddle of dissolved Shadow on the ground. Or rather, not. The puddle was gone. It looked likely that it had faded away while none of them were looking. Upon looking at the ceiling, Minato found the crack from before was gone. Had Tartarus' shifting qualities caused it to disappear? Or was something else at work? One thing was for sure though. Something strange was going on.

* * *

 The next day after school, Minato went to the Velvet Room. The door in the alley underneath Mandragora was still there, much to Minato's relief. He pushed the door open and stepped through into the velvet draped elevator. However, upon stepping in, he realized something was rather different. Specifically, the man standing next to Igor. The man had vaguely familiar silver hair and yellow eyes, and his outfit could only be described as a blue flight attendant's uniform. Minato walked over to the lyre backed chair and sat down across from Igor.

"Ah, welcome. I expected I would be seeing you soon."

Igor held his hand out to the side. "This is Theodore. He is a resident of this room, much like myself."

Theodore gave a polite bow. "I am pleased to meet you. My master has already explained the situation to me."

"You're Elizabeth's replacement?" Minato asked. Theodore nodded.

"Elizabeth was one of my older sisters. My other sister, Margaret, is currently absent from the Velvet Room."

Minato nodded and then turned from Theodore to Igor. He noticed that Igor seemed annoyed for some reason, but instead of dwelling on it, decided to get to the point and pulled a card from his pocket. The card bore the image of Yomotsu-Shikome, but it bore an odd gold rim, which made Minato even more suspicious. Usually when he manifested Personas in the Velvet Room, they appeared as blue rimmed cards.

"I summoned this Persona last night. I've summoned this Persona before, and it wasn't like this," Minato said.

Igor appeared to examine the card for a moment before picking it up, holding it gingerly with those gnarled fingers of his. "It would appear this Persona has changed Arcana to accommodate changes within yourself."

He placed the card on the table so that it faced Minato. Minato looked up at Igor again. "What do you mean?"

"You are no longer as strong as you once were. When you were reborn, your mind was shaken, and you lost grasp of those capabilities that allowed you to summon the Personas of the many Arcana."

_You have lost your Answer…_

"It would seem that in response to this weakening, some of your Persona have evolved to better suit you. It would also appear that you have the ability to use some new Persona," Igor continued.

"This Persona changed Arcana so I could use it better…?" Minato picked up the card and looked at it. He studied the Persona for a moment, and thought of the feeling he got from it. He closed his eyes in concentration, and after a moment, opened them. "Fool. It changed to Fool."

"That is correct."

"...You're saying it changed to Fool so I could actually _use_ it?" Minato asked. He thought back to when he'd been in Tartarus before. Not a single Persona had appeared in his mind, when before he'd had about five just after that first trip in. For a moment there each time, he'd thought he'd seen a Persona, only for it to suddenly disappear. Pixie was a Lovers, Asparas was a Priestess, Nekomata was a Magician, and Yomotsu-Shikome was supposed to be a Hermit. And yet when he finally summoned a Persona, he ended up with a Shikome that was a _Fool._ His eyes widened as he realized the connection. "...Wait. Are you saying I can only use Fool Arcana Personas now?"

"You lack the power to use any more than a few Arcana. You are not limited to just Fool, but you are still only capable of using Personas from those few Arcana," Igor continued. Minato sighed.

"…Which ones?"

"Fool, Death, and Judgment."

Minato swore. That limited him to maybe thirty Persona, and about half of them were particularly vulnerable to light and dark spells. There was probably some kind of symbolic significance about that, but right now Minato was more worried about not dying. That tended to be important. He wished that Igor had told him this up front when he'd made that new contract instead of waiting for when another Persona just randomly appeared and he came and asked about it to tell him. At least the long nosed man was being somewhat up front about things. Minato was still the one asking all of the questions here.

"My time grows short. Your counterpart will likely be arriving soon to invest in my services, so if you have no interest in using them, then I suggest you leave," Igor said. Something about his tone sounded angry, and Minato decided it wouldn't be a good idea to linger. He repocketed the Shikome card and walked over to the door he had come through. He was already through the doorway and back in Paulownia Mall when he heard Theodore yell.

"Wait! Please wait!"

He turned back toward the Velvet Room and looked inside the open doorway in time to see Theodore swiftly walking over. The silver haired man stepped out of the Velvet Room and closed the door behind him.

"I must ask that you excuse my master's mood. The incident with my sister is still fresh on his mind, and your mentioning of her, while in good heart, caused him pain," Theodore explained. "If you would, could you please refrain from mentioning her in the future? He was rather fond of her, even with his disapproval toward some of her actions, and her fate pains him deeply."

Minato couldn't help but be amazed. Igor actually had _emotions._ "Yeah, sure. I'll try to remember that—"

"Minato-kun? Theo-kun?"

Minato and Theodore both turned toward the alley entrance. Standing there was Hamuko, who was carrying another strange equipment case.

"What are you doing here?" Minato asked.

"Akihiko-senpai had me and Junpei go to the police station and buy some new weapons," Hamuko said. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Nothing," Minato said. "Just talking to Theodore." He gave a wave to Theodore and walked past Hamuko, heading out of the alley. Hamuko turned and watched Minato as he walked away before giving a huff and walking back toward the Velvet Room door. Minato seated himself on a bench next to one of the fountains and gave a sigh. It was hard to watch Hamuko go through the same things he did. And why had she had to interrupt then? How much had she heard? It didn't matter, anyways. She wouldn't know who Elizabeth was, and she wouldn't find out from Theodore or Igor. Even if she did somehow find out, it wouldn't affect things.

And then, of course, there was the main issue, the thing he'd come here for. He could only use Fool, Death, and Judgment Arcana Personas. In a way, it was amusing. Those were the same S. Links he'd formed with SEES and Pharos before. He hadn't even remembered to ask Igor about the _other_ reason he'd come there: Social Links. Somehow Minato got the feeling he already knew the answer to that, though. They probably no longer had an impact on him anymore. His thoughts wandered to his interactions with Kenji, and how, while friendly, they'd lacked the kind of intimacy they had back before. Somehow Minato got the feeling just from that he couldn't even _make_ Social Links anymore. Igor probably had some explanation for that one, too. Maybe being unable to form solid relationships due to his knowledge of the future or something like that.

After some deliberation he pulled a coin from his pocket. He held it up so that it glinted in the artificial light before resting it on his thumb. He flicked his thumb up, and the coin went flying behind him into the fountain. At this point, all he really had to wish for was that he was successful in what he was trying to do. Weakened Persona abilities, inability to form Social Links, and the simple fact he wasn't leader of SEES anymore (which was his own fault more than anything). If he managed to succeed in what he was trying to do, it would be a miracle.

Well, at least this wouldn't be his first time pulling a miracle if he managed it.


	8. Confronting Shinjiro

A week had passed since Hamuko had run into Minato at Paulownia Mall, and that was about how long it had been since anything out of the ordinary had occurred. They continued school like normal, and at night, continued their forays into the Tower. Minato and Akihiko were still injured, but at least Minato's shoulder was healing faster than Akihiko's ribs. Hamuko didn't know how long it took for broken ribs to heal, but it was taking a while. Apparently healing magic wasn't good at healing serious wounds, so Minato and Akihiko were both stuck with letting their wounds heal naturally. If this had taught Hamuko anything, it was that Dia could not solve all of their problems if they were to get injured, so she had to be more careful.

It wasn't just things on the Tartarus front that had been going on. School had been relatively normal. The sports clubs had opened up registration to new students, so Hamuko had joined the volleyball team. Apparently Minato had interest in joining track, but they wouldn't let him because of his injured shoulder. On days that she wasn't at volleyball practice, Hamuko was either hanging out with Junpei or Yukari. There was also an old couple who owned a bookstore in Iwatodai that she had been spending time at. She did wish that Bunkichi would stop giving her melon bread, though. She didn't really _like_ melon bread, but she was too polite to turn it down.

A few days ago, Mitsuru had approached Hamuko and asked her to join student council. Hamuko hadn't objected, though she did have to wonder why Mitsuru wanted her to join. There were a lot of people in student council, but the only ones that stood out to her were Chihiro, the treasurer, and Hidetoshi, the head of the disciplinary committee. Since she and Minato were both transfer students and fairly well known at the school because of this, Hamuko had ended up having to tell people many times over the past few days that, no, she was not related to Minato. She really wished people would stop asking her that.

And of worthy note was that all of these interactions with people had made Social Links. Junpei was Magician, Yukari was Lovers; Rio, a girl from volleyball, was Chariot; and so forth. And Minato, who she hadn't spent much time with at all, was World. As far as Hamuko could tell, she was the only one who had these Social Links. Not even Minato had them, and he had almost all of the same powers Hamuko had. He'd even had a Persona just suddenly appear to him, like those Pixies and Asparas had to Hamuko. So why was _she_ the only one with these Social Link things?

"And so, as that person put it… hey, are you listening?"

Hamuko jumped and looked toward Yukari. Oh right, they had been walking to school. Yukari groaned. "Geez, you're spacier than Junpei." She suddenly turned her head to the left. "Oh hey, it's Minato-kun and Senpai."

Hamuko turned as well. Standing near the gates talking was Mitsuru and Minato.

"Akihiko is getting a checkup today at Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. I would like you to go with him. I've already scheduled a checkup for you, so it would be worth your time."

 _She's not even letting him have a choice in the matter,_ Hamuko noted to herself. Minato only gave a nod in response to Mitsuru. The two of them then continued on through the school gates.

"They sure don't talk much," Yukari noted. Hamuko nodded, and then Yukari went back to talking about that guy she'd been talking about earlier when Hamuko hadn't really been paying attention.

* * *

When school ended, Minato was the first to leave the classroom. Hamuko supposed that made sense. He did have to go to that checkup. Since Akihiko was going too, Hamuko figured it had to do with Minato's shoulder. Mitsuru probably wanted to check and see how their respective injuries were healing up. Junpei stood up out of his chair and watched Minato go.

"Why's he in such a hurry?"

"Apparently he's got a checkup at the hospital," Hamuko commented. Yukari walked in the room at this point and walked over to the two of them.

"What, him too? I heard Akihiko-san was at the hospital too. Oh yeah, that reminds me. Akihiko-san called me earlier and wanted me to bring him something." There was a rather smug look on Junpei's face as he said that. "Yep, he knows who he can count on."

Yukari groaned. "He only asked you 'cause you don't have anything else to do after school."

"H-Hey, I resent that."

Yukari laughed. "I'm just kidding. So, what'd he want you to bring?"

Junpei reached into his bag and pulled out a few papers. Hamuko raised an eyebrow. That looked like a class roster. Why would Akihiko need that? Junpei's next words confirmed what she'd been thinking. "The class roster for 2-E."

Yukari seemed just as confused as Hamuko did. "What's he want that for? Well, I don't have practice today, so I'll go with you." She looked toward Hamuko. "You're coming too, right?"

"Definitely," Hamuko said.

"Cool," Yukari said. Junpei looked less than pleased.

"W-Wait a minute."

"What?"

"Well, it was ME he asked…"

"Oh, suck it up, Junpei," Hamuko teased. Junpei gave a grumbling pout, but headed out of the room with the other two girls anyways.

* * *

Junpei had gotten directions from the receptionist to the room Akihiko was supposedly having his checkup in. It was on the first floor, luckily enough, so they didn't have to go far. Just as the three of them were turning the corner Hamuko heard voices. _Angry_ voices. She held out her arm to block the other two's path and stood just behind the corner, watching.

Standing down the hallway was Minato and a man Hamuko didn't recognize. The man was wearing a dark red peacoat and beanie. He stood in a stance that mostly mirrored Minato's own: slightly slouched, with his hands in his pockets. Upon closer inspection, Hamuko saw that the man had a bottle of pills clenched in his right hand, which was hanging free from his pocket.

"…You're taking those pills? Don't you know what those things do?"

"Course I do. That's why I take them."

"Then you know what the side effects are," Minato snarled. "You can't seriously still be taking them despite that, are you?"

"I don't have to answer to you. Did Aki put you up to this?"

"He doesn't even know about any of this."

"So you decided to do it for him. Tch. How the hell do you even know about these anyways?"

There was a bit of a trapped expression on Minato's face, and Hamuko realized after a moment that was the same odd expression he used whenever he said something Hamuko was sure wasn't entirely true. It was the expression he got when he was trying to come up with something to say. It was that expression he got when he was _lying._ It was only now that Hamuko realized that's what the expression was—pain related to lying about something he refused to tell anyone about. And looking at this other man, he realized it too. He spoke up before Minato had a chance to formulate a dodge.

"Tch, whatever. If you're just gonna stand here and lecture me, then you're not worth my time," the man growled. He turned and began to walk away, but Minato yelled one last thing.

"You're killing yourself over a stupid mistake, Shinji!"

The man, apparently named Shinji, wheeled on Minato, grabbing him by his collar and lifting him clean off the ground. He pushed Minato into a wall, still holding him up by his collar as he did so. The man looked pissed beyond all belief.

"Don't call me Shinji," he snarled. "The only ones allowed to do that are Aki and Miki. Don't you _ever_ call me that again!"

He dropped Minato, and the blue haired teen slumped to the floor. Minato gave a wince of pain, but didn't say anything further. It was at this moment that Akihiko walked from out of a room down the hall, only to be brushed past by the man. Akihiko looked down the hallway at where Minato lay against the wall, and suddenly ran after the man. "Hey! Shinji!"

Hamuko watched Akihiko go before running over to Minato's side. Yukari and Junpei both ran after her, and crouched down beside Minato as well. Minato didn't really seem to be that hurt, but he wasn't moving much.

"Are you okay?" Hamuko asked. Minato groaned and opened his eyes; both eyes visible due to how his hair had fallen when he'd hit the ground.

"I suppose you saw all of that," Minato said. Hamuko gave a small nod.

"What the hell was all that about?" Junpei asked. "Was that guy that Shinji guy you were talking about before?"

Minato looked away, and Hamuko noticed he had that same trapped, lying look on his face. He finally gave a nod.

"It sounded like you were fighting over some pills he's taking," Yukari asked. "What was up with that?"

"It's not important!" Minato suddenly spat. All three drew back, and Minato's angry expression quickly changed to a rather guilty one. He shook his head. "Just forget about it. It doesn't concern you guys." He shakily got to his feet and turned away from the three of them, and Hamuko felt her hands curl into fists again. Even after what he'd said the previous day, he still wasn't telling them _anything._ But before that thought could fully formulate, Minato sighed.

"He's taking pills to suppress his Persona. That guy, Shinjiro… he used to be in SEES."

"Wait, what?" Yukari gasped. "I've never heard anything about him!"

"Woah, for real? Then that Aki and Miki he was talking about…" Junpei started. Minato shook his head.

"Aki's Akihiko, but I don't know who Miki is," Minato said. He shook his head. "I guess someone else who used to be in SEES. All I know is that Shinjiro used to be in SEES… and he killed someone while in it. Or more accurately, his Persona did. I guess that's why he's taking the suppressants."

Hamuko almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. Not because of what Minato was actually saying, but the way he was saying it. It sounded like this was a very personal matter to him. Everything about this just sounded way too personal to him, from Shinjiro's past to the Persona suppressants. "Minato-kun, how did you find out about this?"

"…"

"Come on, man, tell us!" Junpei interjected.

"Alright, alright!" Minato cried. He sighed and looked away. The way his face was turned meant Hamuko couldn't see his face. "Don't tell Mitsuru but… I went snooping around in some old files about SEES. It's registered as a school club, so there were old membership records at school. I knew Shinjiro from when I was still staying at the boys' dorm, so I knew who the records were talking about when I saw his name in there. I found out the other stuff from looking through some of Ikutsuki's records."

"That's right… he's got an office up on the 4th floor," Yukari noted. Minato nodded.

"He left it unlocked one day, so I snuck in and looked through his files," Minato said. "I found out about the Persona suppressants that way. Apparently the Kirijo Group manufactured them in the past for some purpose. They're also highly dangerous. They suppress your ability to summon a Persona, but the drugs basically cause your organs to just… shrivel up and fail."

There was a heavy silence after that. Hamuko wasn't really sure what to say. This Shinjiro person sounded like a good friend of Akihiko's, but if what Minato said was right, he was killing himself. Even if he'd killed someone, Hamuko couldn't understand why Shinjiro would do that. Yukari and Junpei both turned toward the hallway Akihiko had followed Shinjiro down.

"Should we go after Senpai?" Yukari asked, finally breaking the silence. Junpei looked concerned, and then shook his head.

"Something tells me that isn't a good idea," Junpei said. "Let's just head back to the dorm. I can give Akihiko-san these papers there."

Yukari nodded. She turned toward Minato, who was massaging his throat. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Minato said. He gave a bitter smile and looked away. "Shinjiro's just got a strong grip, that's all…"

* * *

Akihiko finally caught up with Shinjiro outside the hospital. Shinjiro had managed to keep a rather steady distance between him and Akihiko for much of Akihiko's pursuit of him, and the silver haired teen only managed to catch up once he was outside, and he had Shinjiro directly in his sights. Upon seeing the peacoated man, he sprinted forward and managed to grab Shinjiro's arm. Shinjiro turned back and gave Akihiko a rather flat look.

"I'm not in the mood," Shinjiro growled.

"What the hell's going on…? Why do you have those pills?" Akihiko managed to pant out. That sprint had not exactly been the best thing for his still injured ribs, but he really didn't give a damn at the moment. He'd heard about those pills before. Ikutsuki always kept some on hand in case of emergencies during missions, but the side effects were so extreme it was _suicide_ to take them. Their only purpose was to suppress a berserk Persona, and Akihiko had only ever had the misfortune to see them used once. And even then, Castor had remained perfectly under Shinjiro's control afterwards… "…You're not taking them, are you?"

Shinjiro didn't answer. He shrugged Akihiko's hand off of his arm, and turned away again.

"Answer me!"

"I don't owe you anything."

"Tch…" Akihiko looked pained, but there was a stubborn expression on his face. "The same as always."

"Save it. I already know what you're going to say, and I already heard it all from that kid in there," Shinjiro growled. Now Akihiko was confused. Minato had already tried to talk to Shinjiro about these pills. How would he even know about them? And how the hell did Minato already know something about Shinjiro that Akihiko didn't _even know?_

"You know him?" Akihiko asked. Shinjiro shook his head.

"He just ran up to me when he saw me leaving your room. Never seen him before in my life." Shinjiro continued to give Akihiko a flat look. "Is that all you wanted to say?"

Akihiko clenched his hand into a fist. He couldn't think of anything he could say to Shinjiro. Nothing he could think to say sounded right. After another moment of silence, Shinjiro turned away, and walked a few steps before turning and looking back toward Akihiko.

"…Listen, don't worry about me. Worry about yourself for once in your life."

Akihiko didn't answer, so Shinjiro turned around and continued walking away. Once Shinjiro was out of earshot, Akihiko gave an exasperated cry. Of course he'd just stood there. What the hell could he do, what could he say? He already knew Shinji was too stubborn to listen to him, even if he did tell him straight up to stop. And as much as Akihiko wanted him to come back to SEES, some days he had to wonder if it wouldn't be better for Shinji to just stay out of the fight and just forget everything that had happened. Even now he wasn't strong enough to save someone he cared about. What good was he if he couldn't save Shinji?

"You stupid idiot," Akihiko growled under his breath. He shook his head. He'd try convincing him again later when he wasn't pissed off. At the moment, Minato was the furthest thing from his thoughts; all Akihiko cared about right now was Shinji. He wasn't going to let Shinji go the same way as Miki had, even if it cost Akihiko his life. With that morbid thought in his head, Akihiko began walking toward the road and away from the hospital.


	9. Master of Priestess

"Hi, how have you been?"

Hamuko gave a grumble and rolled over, managing to press her face further into her pillow in the process. Had she not been so deeply sleeping, she might have woken up and noticed a rather familiar boy wearing a prisoner's outfit standing by her bed. The boy frowned. He had a _very important message_ to say and it couldn't wait until tomorrow. He couldn't manifest any time outside of the Dark Hour, after all.

He reached over and shook Hamuko's shoulder a couple times. "Hey… _Hey…"_ She still didn't wake. By this point, the boy was rather annoyed. He looked around the room and spotted a thick plastic clothes hanger on the floor. He ran over and picked it up before running back over to the bed. He climbed onto Hamuko's bed and stood at the foot of it, one hand resting on the metal part of the frame. He then began to bang the hanger against the metal frame.

"WAKE UP!"

Hamuko shot awake at that. In fact, she went a little overboard, as she managed to fall out of her bed and land with a bang on the wooden floor, taking all of the blankets with her. This also took the boy with her, as he was _standing_ on top of the blankets. Needless to say, Hamuko was rather awake at that. She was now hoping no one else _was._ She pulled herself up to a sitting position and looked toward the boy, who was standing and now trying to dust himself off.

"Wha-? Oh, it's you again!" Hamuko said. She gave a yawn. "Couldn't you have woken me up a different way?"

"I tried to, but you wouldn't wake," the boy grumbled. He scowled and turned toward the window. He was gazing wistfully at the moon, and there was a look in the boy's eyes that suggested he was seeing something beyond what Hamuko could see, though what it was, she did not know. "One week from now, there will be a full moon." He turned back toward Hamuko, and his expression was serious. "Be careful. A new ordeal awaits you."

Hamuko frowned, and her expression was rather worried. At the same time, though, she was confused. Ordeal? Full moon? She stood up as well. "What kind of ordeal?"

"You will face one of _them._ You must prepare, but time is of the essence… I'm sure you're aware of that, of course," the boy said, quite simply. Hamuko had no idea what he meant by "them", but she had a feeling whatever it was, it was the same thing as the thing Akihiko and Mitsuru referred to only as "them". He smiled at Hamuko. "I'll come see you again when it's over. Goodbye for now."

And then, before Hamuko could get another word out, the boy quite simply vanished. Hamuko stared at the spot where the boy had been standing for another moment before giving a yawn and working at pulling all of her blankets back onto her bed. She honestly wasn't sure what that was all about. The full moon was in a week, and the boy had said she would have an ordeal then. She didn't like the sound of that one bit. Obviously she was going to listen to the creepy boy who appeared in her head and sometimes made her fall out of her bed, mainly because he hadn't given her any proof that he was wrong so far. Plus, it helped to be safe. After pulling all of her blankets back onto her bed rather messily, Hamuko crawled under her blankets and fell asleep.

* * *

 

A week passed after that visit to the hospital, and unknown to Hamuko, Minato knew exactly what was coming. He'd been counting the days until the full moon since the day he'd appeared in this world, and he knew that on the day he'd gone to the hospital and confronted Shinjiro, it had been eight days until the full moon. Today was the day of the full moon, and Minato was simply waiting for something to happen. He seemed to do a lot of that these days. Waiting, fighting, and _lying_ though his teeth, which he was always having to do now. It sickened him a little bit that he was getting better at lying like that. At least his shoulder had finally healed, which was the one bright side in all of this. He would be able to participate in tonight's operation.

He was actually sitting down in the dorm's lounge, reading a book by the light of a single lamp. For the most part, he was still in his uniform, though the jacket he wore over the white dress shirt was currently off and thrown onto the sofa. If anyone asked, he'd just say he couldn't sleep. Honestly, he didn't want to sleep. Not right now, when he was basically just waiting for midnight to hit. Then the operation would start… Tonight they would be facing Priestess. It would be different this time, Minato knew that. And not just because he somehow got the feeling Junpei _wouldn't_ run off this time. Minato put his book down on the table and sighed. How the hell was Hamuko getting along so much better with everyone than Minato had been able to? They were supposed to be the same person; she wasn't supposed to get along better with Junpei than Minato had!

"Who's there?"

Minato tensed at the sudden voice, but he quickly relaxed. He turned toward the stairway, and called, "It's just me, Yukari." The brown-haired girl stepped out from behind the corner and into view. Despite the time, she was still wearing her uniform, and she seemed somewhat nervous.

"I didn't know you were still awake," Yukari said softly.

"Tomorrow's Sunday, so I thought I'd stay up and get some reading done," Minato explained. It was a lie, of course, but Minato had figured Yukari wouldn't see through his lie. She didn't visibly react to it, so he assumed she'd fallen for it. Dammit.

"Ah. Yeah, I couldn't… sleep. I guess I'm just nervous. It's been a while since anything's happened," Yukari said. She sat down in a chair on one end of the table. "I mean, anything Shadow related. That stuff with Senpai last week doesn't count. That reminds me, how's your shoulder?"

Minato grasped the collar of his shirt and undid a couple buttons. He pulled it back, revealing his shoulder. The bandages had been removed, and now there was only a large, really quite nasty scar where the wound had been. Yukari gave a wince, but she still managed to force out a smile. "That's a relief. You've been out of the fight for a while, so…" She trailed off, and it occurred to Minato that something had to be wrong with her.

"…You seem worried about something," Minato said.

"Huh? Oh yeah, Hamuko kept going on about how she had a bad feeling today at school. I thought she was just being paranoid, but y'know, with how quiet it's been lately…"

Minato didn't miss Yukari's lack of honorific for Hamuko. He turned away from Yukari and looked toward the lamp before speaking. "You and Hamuko-chan are pretty close, huh…"

"Well, she _is_ the only other girl here besides Mitsuru-senpai," Yukari said. She winked. "Us girls gotta stick togeth—"

Of course, the world chose that moment to switch over to the Dark Hour, shocking Yukari out of finishing that sentence. Minato wasn't sure if he was glad about that or not, for a lot of reasons. He didn't need to hear about all of the reasons his alternate self was better than him _again_. Minato closed his book and stood up.

"Dark Hour. I guess I should head to bed," Minato said. Yukari gave a small nod and stood up as well. Minato grabbed his jacket off of the couch and pulled it on. He and Yukari began walking toward the stairs together, and while Yukari didn't say anything, Minato did note that she was standing rather close to him. _She totally has a crush on me,_ he gladly thought to himself.

Just as the two of them reached the top of the staircase, an alarm rang through the whole dorm. Junpei crashed out of his room and into the hallway.

"What the hell is that?" Junpei yelled.

"Trouble," Minato said, and left it at that before running upstairs.

* * *

 

A few minutes later, SEES was gathered in the command room. Mitsuru was staring at the screen, where several graphs and charts Minato couldn't make heads or tails of were displayed. Akihiko was on a phone connected to the bank of consoles, and he seemed to be trying to call someone. Minato noted that everyone was in their school uniforms, even though there wasn't any real sign anything was going to happen that night. It was obvious they'd all had the same bad feeling.

"We're here!" Yukari said.

"Where is it! I'll rip it a new one!" Junpei yelled.

Mitsuru looked away from the bank of consoles and toward the group of them. "We've detected a Shadow outside of Tartarus. We don't know for sure, but we think it's another big one. We have to defeat any of them we find, as quickly as possible. Most people don't know the Dark Hour exists. But, if half the city is destroyed, there will be panic. That must be avoided at all costs."

That only seemed to make Junpei more excited. "In other words, we need to kick some ass, right? Well, count me in!"

Yukari groaned. Minato noted that Hamuko didn't really seem that bothered, which really wasn't that big of a surprise to him after their first visit into Tartarus.

Mitsuru turned toward Minato. "Have your injuries healed?"

Minato nodded. "I can fight any time."

Mitsuru gave a nod and looked toward Akihiko, who had placed the phone back down on the bank of consoles. "Did you manage to get in contact with the chairman?"

"He's on his way here," Akihiko said.

"Stay here and wait for him," Mitsuru ordered.

"Wha-!?" Akihiko whirled toward Mitsuru. "Are you kidding!? I'm going!"

Mitsuru shook her head. "You still need to recover. You'll just be a hindrance."

"What!?"

Minato rolled his eyes. _I can feel the sexual tension from here…_ Junpei turned toward Minato and twirled his finger around his ear, in the universal taunt for calling someone crazy. Minato shrugged. They'd be done soon, anyways.

"…you'll get your chance, Akihiko, but for now, wait for the Chairman."

Akihiko sighed. "…Dammit."

Junpei stepped forward, grinning like an idiot. Minato suddenly had a feeling Junpei was about to say something stupid, a suspicion that was confirmed as Junpei continued.

"Hey, does that mean we can have a different leader this time? Ooh, can I do it?"Junpei asked. "Come on, give me a chance!"

Akihiko groaned and looked toward Hamuko. "You're in charge."

"Whaa? Her again…?"

"Shocker, I know," Minato said sarcastically.

"We're counting on you," Mitsuru added. Hamuko grinned.

"Leave it to me!"

Akihiko nodded at the group of four. "You four should hurry and go on ahead. Mitsuru, you need to get ready, right?"

"Indeed. Let's rendezvous in front of the station," Mitsuru said. Hamuko nodded again, and led the way out of the room. Minato followed behind Hamuko, Yukari, and Junpei, heading out of the command room. Upon exiting, Minato noticed that Junpei had paused near the door. He turned toward Minato.

"Uh… hey, did Senpai ever actually _say_ why we were going to the station?" Junpei asked.

"I don't think so," Minato said.

"Man, she shoulda at least told us," Junpei said, and continued down the stairs. Minato followed somewhat reluctantly. He really didn't know what he was going to do when he got to the station in the first place.

* * *

 

Fifteen minutes had passed, and Mitsuru still had not joined them at the station. Junpei and Minato were both sitting on the steps, while Yukari and Hamuko were standing in front of them. Junpei had snagged a drink on the way there, but Minato was deciding to pass on any drinks during the Dark Hour after that last time. There was no need to have any repeats of the water bottle incident. He looked down at his feet. He'd come along because he had to, and he knew they were going to fight an Arcana Shadow today, but he didn't know what he was going to do about it. If they killed the Shadow, it would return to Death. At the same time, he hadn't told anyone in their group that killing this Shadow would be bad. How could he? It wasn't like he could just walk up and say, "Hey guys, killing Shadows is bad, so let's stop before we end the world." Akihiko was already suspicious of him, and he was sure that bastard Ikutsuki had his own suspicions too. He hated hiding things, but at the same time, he didn't want to open up the can of worms revealing everything would do.

"What the hell am I supposed to do…?"

"Huh? You say something?"

Minato looked up and toward Junpei. "Er, no, just talking to myself."

Junpei raised an eyebrow at Minato. He turned back toward the road, and groaned in exasperation. Yukari was already beginning to look annoyed. Hamuko only continued to glance toward the station with the same worried look she'd had since they'd gotten there. She held her naginata close to her body with both hands, and she didn't seem to want to let it go. The silence continued, and finally Yukari burst out with, "Where is she?"

"She'll be here soon," Junpei said, but he didn't sound quite convinced. Minato looked to his right and stared out at the strip of ocean between Iwatodai and Port Island. The ocean was a pure mass of red. He felt his stomach try to protest at the thought of that blood-filled ocean, and looked back down at his feet. His thoughts went back to a DVD Yukari had owned back in his own world. It had been a copy of the video Kirijo-san had shown them at Yakushima, but it had lacked the doctored dialogue. Instead it had what Yukari's father had really said on it. He had been pleading for them to not kill the Arcana Shadows that made up Death. The whole reason Minato was here, in SEES, fighting was to prevent the Arcana Shadows from returning to Death and Nyx being called. That was what Minato was assuming, in any case.

Yukari looked up at the sky, and grimaced at the yellow colored moon. "There's a full moon tonight… But it looks even creepier during the Dark Hour."

Minato finally stood up. "Guys, I've got something to tell you before we go through with this. We can't ki—"

Before Minato could finish that sentence, he heard what sounded what almost sounded like a very loud motorbike. All four of them turned toward the direction the sound had come from, though Minato was the only one who didn't turn toward the sound out of confusion. A white motorcycle quickly pulled around the corner and pulled up in front of the station. The rider removed her helmet, revealing Mitsuru's head. Mitsuru kicked down the kickstand and stood up from where she sat on the motorcycle.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Isn't that the motorcycle from Tartarus?" Yukari asked. Mitsuru ignored her and continued on.

"Listen carefully. Tonight I'll be providing support from here. Everything else is the same. The Shadow is currently located inside the monorail train Anehazuru, not far from the station. To get there, you'll have to walk on the tracks."

"Are you serious!? Isn't that dangerous…?" Junpei exclaimed.

"Don't worry, no electronic equipment is operable during the Dark Hour, including the monorails."

"But, your bike…" Hamuko said quietly. Now that Minato thought about it, it was the only thing she'd said since they'd arrived.

Mitsuru gave a chuckle. "It's special. Now, if circumstances change, I'll notify you immediately. Let's get started."

* * *

 

The monorail Mitsuru had directed them towards had been on the bridge between Port Island and Iwatodai. The lack of electricity during the Dark Hour meant that the train had just stopped on the tracks after leaving the station. The four of them came to a stop at the last car of the train. The doors to the train were open, and there was a ladder leading up to each door. Yukari looked rather confused.

"This is it… right?"

"I think so, but nothing looks out of the ordinary," Hamuko said. She took a few careful steps forward when a beeping noise came over the earpieces of the four SEES members.

" _Can you all hear me?"_

"Yes, I can hear you clearly," Yukari said. "We just got here, but I don't see anything out of the…"

" _The readings are definitely coming from that monorail. Proceed with caution, and stay together."_

"Got it," Hamuko said. Junpei gave an excited laugh as soon as Mitsuru cut the connection.

"Heheh, my Persona's just beggin' to be used!"

Yukari scoffed at Junpei and made his way past him. She grasped the rung of the ladder and began to make her way up it. Minato frowned. The doors were open. Wait, hadn't there been something wrong with this situation before, too? He wracked his brain for the answer, and it took a moment for him to remember. The doors had snapped shut on them the moment they made it inside.

"Wait, Yukari-chan!" Minato called. Yukari stopped making her way up the ladder and turned toward Minato. It was only after Hamuko and Junpei did the same thing that Minato continued. "Doesn't this seem odd? This train's not at a station, but the doors are open."

"Hey, you're right…" Yukari looked up at the door she had been climbing toward, and then stepped off of the ladder. Junpei looked a little miffed.

"That Shadow's in the train, ain't it? If it wants us to come in, that just means we can kick its ass easier!" Junpei said.

"…Junpei-kun, Minato-kun's right," Hamuko said. "This is really suspicious. I think it's a trap."

Minato nodded. Now if he could only convince them not to kill the Shadow. It wasn't _doing_ anything as far as Minato could tell. It was just sitting there, waiting for them. The Shadow wanted to bait them onto the train so that it could either kill Hamuko or have her kill it.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?!" Junpei yelled. "There's a Shadow in there, and we've gotta kill it!"

"…Junpei-kun's right too… we have to defeat that Shadow. It's what's causing all of those Apathy Syndrome cases lately, isn't it?" Hamuko asked. Minato blinked. Apathy Syndrome… he'd forgotten about the Lost. They wouldn't recover on their own; at least Minato didn't think so. But even so, they _couldn't_ kill the Shadow.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Yukari spoke up. "We can't sit around here forever; the Dark Hour will be over soon!"

"I'm thinking!" Hamuko cried out in frustration. Her yell silenced the other three and Hamuko looked a little shocked at herself. She groaned and put a hand on her head. "I-I'm sorry, just give me a moment to…"

" _I'm sorry to interrupt, but we may have a problem."_

Minato gave a start at the sudden words that came through their earpieces. He willed his racing heart down as he realized it was just Mitsuru, and lifted his hand up to the earpiece to answer. Yukari ended up speaking before he could, though.

"What's wrong?"

" _While you were talking, the Shadow grew agitated, and seems to have taken action to force a confrontation."_

Now Minato was confused. There was a bit of hesitation in Mitsuru's voice, and she sounded almost shocked. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear something like a motor, but that didn't make sense. No electronics could work during the Dark Hour. Mitsuru had said that herself.

"What did it do?" Minato asked.

" _The Shadow has taken control of my motorcycle."_

"WHAT?!"

All four in the group wheeled around toward the station just as the motorcycle sped toward Hamuko. She managed to dodge out of the way of the bike just before it could run over her. The bike sped back around and rushed at Junpei this time. Junpei quickly ran out of the way of the bike.

"Wh-What the hell?!" Junpei cried. The bike swung around again to rush at him. He unholstered his Evoker and pressed it to his head. "Hermes!" The Persona manifested in a flash of light and with a flap of its wings, it launched itself at the motorcycle. Hermes caught the motorcycle in mid charge, and the impact from the Persona's boots shredded the motorcycle into scrap metal. Hermes dissipated after the charge.

"…Mitsuru's gonna be pissed," Minato said after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"We just nearly got run over by a possessed bike and _you're_ wonderin' about what Mitsuru-san's gonna think?"

"How did it do that…?" Yukari asked, her voice still shaky. Minato had to admit he was a little freaked out himself. He had not expected Mitsuru's motorcycle to try to kill them. He had a feeling this was his fault for not letting them go into the monorail.

"I think the Shadow can control machines," Minato said. "It possessed that monorail before, and when we wouldn't get on it, it took control of the closest machine to us."

"So if we'd gotten on that monorail…"

"…It would have crashed the train and killed us all," Hamuko finished. No one needed to respond to that. Minato turned to ask Hamuko if they could go now when what sounded like a distorted chuckle rang out from behind Minato. Everyone wheeled toward the monorail.

Sitting on top of the train was a large woman-like Shadow. Her body was evenly split down the center into two halves, one black, one white. Where the hair on a normal woman would be was several long hanging scrolls, which had draped down across the monorail and onto the tracks. A few of the scrolls had wrapped themselves around the back end of the monorail itself. The only clothing the Shadow wore was a skirt and the Priestess mask on her face. She gave what seemed to be a smirk at Hamuko before holding a hand to her mouth and then thrusting it out in an "air kiss" motion. Two floating Shadows of the type Minato recognized to be Tiaras manifested.

"What the hell?! When did that thing appear?!" Junpei yelled. Minato and Hamuko both ran forward, Hamuko taking up the lead.

"Minato, Junpei, you handle the little Shadows! Yukari, you focus on the main shadow. Your weapon is the only one that can accurately reach it in the position it's in," Hamuko ordered. She turned back toward the fight.

" _Be careful. This isn't like anything we've ever faced before,"_ Mitsuru said. Minato gave a nod, and rushed at the Tiara to his left, swinging at it with his sword. The blade cut into the Tiara's body, but the rigid frame of the Shadow caused the blade to get caught. Minato managed to pull his sword free before the Tiara could launch off a spell at him. He managed to dodge out of the way of the Shadow's Agi, and then pulled out his Evoker and pressed it to his head. His sword would just get caught again if he tried to attack it physically so…

"Orpheus!" Minato pulled the trigger on his Evoker and summoned the lyre-carrying Persona. It strummed its lyre once, and a fireball shot from it at the Tiara, incinerating it. Upon the Tiara's death, the Priestess shadow turned directly toward Minato and looked him in the eye with an odd sort of recognition. Minato felt a chill run down his spine. _Why is it looking at me like that?_

It didn't last long before Priestess held its hand out. A fog formed around Priestess' hand and the air grew chill for a moment before Minato was knocked off of his feet by a spiked ball of ice. He gave a gasp as he hit the ground; the force of the attack had knocked the air out of Minato. Hamuko looked back toward Minato and gasped. "H-Hey, are you alright?"

Minato pushed himself up on one elbow. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine…" _It's stronger than before… why?_

The air once again grew cold, but before Priestess could fire off another Bufu attack, an arrow shot into its right eye. The Shadow gave a screech and grasped at its face, trying to pull the arrow free. Minato looked back toward Yukari, who lowered her bow and gave a thumbs up toward Minato. Minato managed to get to his feet in time to see Junpei finish off the last of the Tiaras with his Persona. Just as Junpei did so, though, two more Tiaras appeared from the remains of the previous ones.

"What the hell?!" Junpei yelled.

"They must regenerate," Yukari said, and notched another arrow. She fired it through the armor of another Tiara. Evidently, the strike had been enough to pierce through the core of the Shadow, because it almost instantly exploded into black sludge.

"D-Don't just focus on the little ones!" Hamuko called. She pulled the trigger on her Evoker, summoning an angel dressed in black leather, which was rather simply named Angel, if Minato remembered right. Then, doing something Minato hadn't quite expected, the Persona grabbed Hamuko by the arms and lifted her onto the top of the train. Hamuko landed a bit less gracefully than she'd probably intended, and brandished her naginata. Upon her landing, Priestess brought its leg around so that it was sitting in a position that allowed it to both see the fights with her children and Hamuko.

"Just you and me now," Hamuko said. She rushed at Priestess and jumped into the air, spinning her naginata above her head before driving it into Priestess' body. The blade of the weapon only sunk into her flesh, but Hamuko didn't seem bothered, and only jumped away again. She didn't skip a beat, pulling out her Evoker and summoning her own Orpheus. Orpheus held out its lyre and shot a fireball at the shadow, which appeared to do a fair amount of damage to it. She smirked and let the Persona remain by her side as she ran to try cutting at Priestess again.

Before Hamuko could get a strike in, the air grew cold around the entire train car. Minato realized what was going on just before the ground froze into giant stalagmites of ice. The Mabufu spell hit both friend and foe, and actually killed the Shadows on the ground. They didn't stay dead for long, their shadowy flesh growing back around their masks. The four humans weren't so lucky. Minato had seen the attack coming, so he'd known how to avoid it, but Junpei and Yukari hadn't been so lucky. Minato gave a sharp intake of breath as he realized they'd been knocked unconscious (at least, he hoped they were unconscious…). Hamuko had managed to avoid the brunt of the attack, but even from where he was standing, Minato could see the large wounds on her body. Despite the damage she'd taken, she rushed forward again with reckless abandon. There was a determined look on her face that she hadn't had before.

At first, Minato was confused as to why she was running forward when she was so close to death. Then he realized. The reason why none of Hamuko's attacks had stuck was because it wasn't just Priestess' children that were regenerating. Priestess had that same ability… but Hamuko had realized its weak spot. Because the shadowy mass on both Priestess and her children had regenerated around the same place: the masks they wore. And Hamuko was aiming right for the mask.

"No! Don't kill it!"

Minato yelled too late. Hamuko sliced her naginata into the mask of the Shadow and split the mask into two. The Shadow gave an almost _erotic_ (why had that word come into his mind) scream and fell from the train and off the bridge, disintegrating before it could hit the blood-red sea. The ice melted away upon Priestess' death, leaving only Minato, Hamuko, and two unconscious party members on the ground. Hamuko gave a few tired breaths.

"Did… I kill it?"

"…yeah," Minato said. He turned toward the part where the Shadow had fallen. "I think you did."

" _Is everybody alright?"_

Minato lifted his hand up to his earpiece. "I am, but Yukari and Junpei are both unconscious, and Hamuko's injured."

" _Alright, get them back to the station before the Dark Hour lifts."_

"And your motorcycle?" Hamuko asked.

"… _Just leave it here. I'm sure whatever wreckage is left will be handled by the monorail company. I'm sorry I couldn't do more on my end."_

"It's okay," Minato said. He shook his head and bent down beside Junpei, pulling his arm up over his shoulder.

"…hey Minato-kun," Hamuko called from the train. "Could you… um… help me down please?"

* * *

 

Ikutsuki had run to the dorm as fast as he could after Akihiko had contacted. And by run, he really had _biked_ the whole way there. It really had been the only way to get there with any kind of speed, and even by the time he had, the Dark Hour had been close to ending. Things not helping how out of breath he was: the dorm was four stories tall. Ikutsuki had a hard time climbing to the top of the stairs on a normal day. Already out of breath from biking _fast as lightning_ to the dorm? He was a little surprised that he hadn't ended up collapsing on the stairs. He didn't know how Akihiko did it.

Though, looking at Akihiko now (who didn't seem very pleased with having to sit in front of the bank of consoles and wait for messages from Mitsuru), he probably wasn't doing much running up and down the stairs right now. The boy still had that brace on, after all, and while he was healing nicely, he still wasn't perfectly healed.

A beep went off from a machine in the bank of consoles, and Akihiko pushed a button on it. "Akihiko here."

" _This is Mitsuru. We've completed the operation. The monorail didn't sustain any noticeable damage."_

Ikutsuki gave a smile. "Thank you, Mitsuru. When I'd heard they hijacked a monorail, I feared the worst. Well done. Now I don't have to worry about tomorrow's headlines."

" _Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about my motorcycle."_

Akihiko and Ikutsuki exchanged a glance. "What do you mean?"

" _The Shadow demonstrated an ability to control machines, and decided to use it to take control of my motorcycle. Unfortunately, it was completely destroyed by Junpei in the fight."_

"Well, motorcycles are replaceable," Ikutsuki said with a chuckle. The motorcycle had been a gift from Mitsuru's father, specially manufactured so that it could function in the Dark Hour as well as during the day. It had also been Mitsuru's 16th birthday present. It was no wonder Mitsuru was bothered over its destruction. Takeharu was likely not going to be very pleased at this news.

"Yeah, you guys aren't," Akihiko said. "Everyone's okay, right?"

" _Takeba and Iori were knocked out, but they're coming around now. The Arisatos are fine."_

Ikutsuki gave a satisfied nod. Akihiko frowned. "But, what are the Shadows up to? Taking over a monorail… This is getting out of hand."

Ikutsuki had to admit he had to agree, if only because it had been a very long time since he'd seen a Shadow with enough power to take over a monorail. In fact, it had been ten years since he'd encountered one of the sort … "I'll be looking into the matter."

" _Does this mean… it's begun?"_

"Hmm… let's not jump to any conclusions," Ikutsuki said. After all, what Mitsuru knew wasn't the whole truth. It was for the better if she didn't know. The girl would panic if she learned before it was time for her to learn. She would understand in the end why he'd hidden it from her. "For now, we should study their behavior for patterns or clues. We cannot afford to always wait for them to make the first move."

" _If I had more power, things wouldn't be so difficult for the others…"_

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You're doing fine," Ikutsuki said. He became aware of just how thirsty he was and bent down, resting his hands on his knees. "More importantly… do you have anything to drink, Akihiko?"

Akihiko turned toward Ikutsuki and raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Why do you look so tired, Ikutsuki-san?" A look of realization spread across his face. "Wait, don't tell me that bicycle outside is yours!"

Ikutsuki said nothing. He was going to be _sore_ tomorrow. He could already feel the soreness creeping into his muscles.

One bottle of water later, Ikutsuki decided to retreat to his office and go over the notes he had so far. The month before, a Shadow of the Magician Arcana had attacked. And now one of the Priestess Arcana had attacked. Was there a pattern occurring here? Magician was the first of the classifications for Shadows, and Priestess was the second. The Shadows were extremely powerful, and their appearances had followed a large outbreak of Apathy Syndrome. It was obvious the Shadows were what caused the Apathy Syndrome, but only an incredibly strong Shadow could cause so many cases at once. And only one Shadow had the ability to cause widespread Apathy Syndrome of the scale they were looking at. It looked like Death's fragments were awakening after ten long years of sleep.

He put the folder holding his files on Death to the side and pulled out two other files. The labels on the two files read, "Hamuko Arisato" and "Minato Arisato." He pulled them open and allowed his eyes to drift down to the sections he had highlighted on both files: the sections relating to their parents' death.

"Let's find out just what happened ten years ago."


	10. Lazy Sunday

A/N: Short filler chapter is short and fillery.

* * *

The morning after the operation was a Sunday, and after the grueling battle the night before, most of SEES was taking the time to sleep off their exhaustion. Mitsuru, however, had _duties_ as the active commander of SEES. The Chairman was who led them on paper, but most of the responsibility for the group lay squarely on Mitsuru's shoulders. And for this reason, she had the most important duty: reporting the results of their impromptu operation to the Kirijo Group… and today, to her father.

Even though Mitsuru had practically lived here in Kirijo headquarters when she was younger, she still could not help but find the place imposing. It was a large facility, built to handle whatever needs the Kirijo Group had. Since Gekkoukan was no longer an option for research after the results of the last major experiment they'd had there, research of Shadows and the Dark Hour were relegated to the underground floors. Mitsuru knew that was where Ikutsuki was now, provided he wasn't deciding to sleep the day through as well. Mitsuru was taking an elevator to the top floor instead.

The elevator came to a stop, and a woman's voice chimed through a speaker attached to the top of the elevator. _"5_ _th_ _Floor- Executive's Office. Thank you for visiting Kirijo Group's Headquarters!"_

The doors slid open, revealing a small ornately designed room. There were several doors in this room that led to other parts of the floor; parts that even Mitsuru had no access to. Directly between the elevator door and the door to Mitsuru's father's office was a secretary's desk. The woman sitting at it was small and bespectacled, her graying hair tied up in a bun. She lifted her head to look at Mitsuru and frowned.

"Kirijo-san is not in at the moment," she said. "I'm sorry, you should have made an appointment before just deciding to drop in, Mitsuru-chan."

"Do you know when he'll be returning?" Mitsuru asked politely. Of course her father wasn't in. He was _never_ in when she needed him.

"Probably not for a few—" The secretary cut off as a door to her side opened. A man in a suit wearing an eyepatch stepped out and paused when he saw Mitsuru.

"Mitsuru, what are you doing here?"

Mitsuru turned toward her father and bowed her head a bit. She always felt nervous talking to him, even with their relation. "I wanted to tell you the results of last night's operation… Father."

"You should have reported them to the lab instead of coming directly to me." He paused. "Did Ikutsuki put you up to this?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "No, I came up here of my own free will. I thought you'd want to know."

Takeharu Kirijo frowned, then motioned for Mitsuru to follow. The two of them walked through a door into Takeharu's office. The room was furnished with everything you would expect an office to have. A large desk with a single hardwood chair behind it dominated the scene, but there was also a tiffany lamp and a laptop on the desk. The room was mainly lit by a large glass window to Mitsuru's front, though which the bay and an overcast sky could be seen. A few sparse diplomas and photos hung from the walls. Most of the photos depicted a younger Mitsuru together with her father. There was one that Takeharu kept on his desk that, while Mitsuru couldn't see it from her angle, she knew it depicted her father and late mother together while they held a newborn Mitsuru. Neither Mitsuru nor Takeharu sat down, and there was a tense silence between the two of them before Takeharu finally spoke.

"Tell me what happened."

Mitsuru began to explain the events that had happened the previous night, starting with when she'd been up in the command room searching for Shadows. She didn't leave out a single detail of what had happened as she explained, and she made sure to go into very precise detail about the Shadows' behaviors. Even with her long detailed explanation, Takeharu didn't give any kind of emotional response. Mitsuru trailed off as she finished up, and waited for her father to speak up.

"Why did you want to tell me this?"

"It's possible this is one of the Shadows from the incident ten years ago. I thought you would be interested." She looked away from her father as she said that. Of course he wasn't interested. Ever since her mother and grandfather had died, he'd been distant toward her.

"It's too soon to say if it was one of the twelve Shadows. There's nothing we can do but wait," Takeharu said after another pause. Mitsuru hated how he always took so long to answer her. It gave her the feeling that he couldn't figure out what to say to her. And the answer he'd given her was the same as the one Ikutsuki had given her. It was only logical with the information they had, but at the same time it was _frustrating._

"I realize this, Father, but if there is a possibility—"

"A possibility is not the same as a certainty. If there is the possibility that it is one of the twelve, then you will have to prepare for any kind of fight with it. Right now we don't even know what triggers these Shadows to appear."

"You think that they're acting on a pattern?"

"Something had to have changed for them to start appearing now after ten long years," Takeharu said. He sighed. "You're putting the blame for the incident on yourself again, Mitsuru. How many times must I tell you that none of the blame is yours?"

"But…"

"My father's actions are not your own. If the blame should be placed on anyone, it should be placed on me for not seeing his madness sooner."

Mitsuru didn't say anything in response to that. It always came to this in their conversations. If only he could _understand-_

"Is that all, Mitsuru?"

"…Yes," Mitsuru said before immediately backtracking. "…About my motorcycle—"

"It's going to take some time before it can be replaced. Your motorcycle was a one of a kind machine, and the mechanisms that allowed it to function in the Dark Hour weren't very cheap to manufacture," Takeharu said. "It may be several months."

"S-Several months?" Mitsuru cried out. Her indignant look quickly dropped, and she looked away. "I understand."

She turned toward the door, and just as she did so, the secretary opened the door. "Excuse me, Kirijo-san, the representative from the Nanjo Group is here to see you."

Mitsuru turned toward her father. "I should go." She nodded to the secretary, who stepped out of the way and allowed Mitsuru to exit the room. There was a man wearing a scarf embroidered with a number 1 standing in the lobby. Mitsuru gave a quick polite nod toward him before proceeding to the elevator. The elevator doors closed behind her, and she pressed the button for the first floor. Mitsuru wiped away a few tears as the elevator began to move downwards. This was how things always went. It had been years since she'd had a normal conversation with her father. Not only had her mother and grandfather died in the incident and the Kirijo Group's reputation ruined, but her father had been forced to take her grandfather's place as leader of the group the moment he was able to walk again.

Both her and her father possessed the Potential due to an experiment they'd taken part in years ago, but only Mitsuru had a Persona. Her father had the Potential, but no Persona. So Mitsuru was the one who had to fight them herself. This wasn't to say that she resented what she was doing… no, she did. She completely did. Now she was trying to lie to herself! She smacked herself and tried to compose herself a bit better. The elevator doors opened out onto the ground floor lobby, and when Mitsuru stepped out of it, her face was stone. She walked past the employees in the lobby and out the door. She felt something hit her face and looked up at the sky.

"…It's raining." She sighed and began her long walk back to the dorm.

* * *

Akihiko was in his room, and today, he had chosen to spend the day doing the usual: training. He had to get back in shape again; he'd be back in the fight soon enough, after all. He needed to be ready for any boxing matches he'd have coming up, too; he couldn't just neglect Boxing Club while he was at it. He hit his punching bag with a rather strong left hook and stepped back again before hitting the punching bag with a few more quick jabs. There were a few light stabs of pain in his chest, but he ignored them. Just his ribs again.

His room was really more gym than bedroom, with most of the room being taken up by various pieces of training equipment. The punching bag was just the only thing he was interacting with at the moment. His bed was unmade as usual, with blankets strewn across the ground. Despite the impending rain, he'd left his window open to allow a breeze in.

"Uh, you in, senpai?"

Akihiko turned toward the door and managed to see Junpei just before getting hit in the face by the still swinging punching bag. It managed to knock him right off his feet. Junpei took a tentative step forward. "Uh… you okay?"

Akihiko pushed himself up with one hand. "I'm fine. Just didn't think to stop it before it could hit me, that's all." After judging that the punching bag had stopped moving, he stood up, once again ignoring the pain from his ribs. Being hit in the chest with a punching bag really hadn't helped any in regards to that. He turned toward Junpei. "Why'd you come up here, anyways?"

"Just… thought I'd say hi," Junpei said awkwardly. Akihiko got the sense that Junpei _had_ a reason initially but for some reason had discarded it from that answer, and gave a somewhat critical look. "Er, I mean, everyone else has already gone out for the day, and you're the only one still here, so I thought I'd come and see what you were doing. I can't believe any of them have the energy to do anything after yesterday. I could barely get myself out of bed in the morning."

Akihiko chuckled. He knew that feeling all too well. He grabbed a bottle of water from a table before walking over to and sitting on his bed.

"Well, I'm going to be taking a break for a minute anyways. It's bad to overexert yourself," Akihiko said. Junpei looked awkwardly around the room for a moment before seeing a folded chair and setting that up. Akihiko hadn't expected Junpei to hang around, though he really didn't care if he did or not.

"So why did you take up boxing anyways, Akihiko-san?" Junpei asked. Akihiko turned toward Junpei and gave a questioning look. That seemed like an odd question for Junpei to ask.

"To become stronger."

"Eh?"

"I lost someone important once because I wasn't strong enough to help them," Akihiko explained. His hand tightened around the water bottle. "I never want to be that weak again."

"Is that why you joined SEES?"

"Yeah," Akihiko took a drink from his water bottle. Junpei shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Man, all of you guys have such noble reasons to be fighting here. Me… I dunno why I'm here," Junpei said.

"Well, maybe you'll find your reason someday." Akihiko screwed the cap back on the water bottle and stood back up. He walked over to the punching bag and took a few test punches at it before returning to his previous training regimen. Junpei continued to watch Akihiko train before the sound of dripping water made him turn toward the open window. Rain had begun to fall, and some droplets were gathering into a puddle on the windowsill and dripping into the room. Junpei stood up, walked over to the window, and pushed it shut.

* * *

 Chagall Café was as crowded as usual today. Most of the tables had teenage couples sitting at them, probably Gekkoukan students spending their Sundays on dates. Yukari, on the other hand, was here alone, sitting with a steaming cup of coffee on the table in front of her. She actually didn't want to be here, but she'd promised some girls in Archery Club that she'd hang out with them today. It was probably another stupid group date. It didn't really help that she was just so _tired_ after the previous night's operation. Her muscles ached and she honestly wanted to sleep, which was why she was now on her third cup of coffee.

"They're late," Yukari grumbled to herself. It just figured that she would be the only one who made it on time. She shouldn't have bothered coming in the first place. She took another sip from her cup, and decided that if they didn't make it to the shop in the next ten minutes, she'd head back to the dorm.

A teal haired girl walked past Yukari's table after she had that thought. The girl sat down at a table close to Yukari's by herself. Yukari didn't turn to look at her until she began to hear low sobs from the girl, and was a little surprised at who it was. The girl was Fuuka Yamagishi, a girl Yukari knew was in the class next to hers, 2-E. Yukari didn't really know much about her other than the fact that she was out from school a lot. Now, seeing Fuuka here, Yukari had to wonder just how much of her absences actually were from illness.

Yukari stood up and walked over to Fuuka's table. She lay with her head on the table, shielded by her arms and muffling her sobs more than she was already trying to. Most of the people around her were ignoring her, like this wasn't that all uncommon of an occurrence. Yukari shook Fuuka's shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"

Fuuka raised her head and wiped some tears from her red tinged eyes. "Oh… Takeba-san, right? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you… I'm quite alright."

"You don't look alright. What happened?"

"Oh, it's nothing really. Weren't you waiting for someone? You kept looking toward the door when I came in."

Yukari blinked in surprise. Fuuka had been paying that much attention to her? The girl was insanely observant… or psychic. Putting that thought out of her head, she said, "Oh, yeah, well, I've been waiting for a while. They probably forgot." She grasped the back of the chair across from Fuuka. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

"Oh, um… I suppose," Fuuka said. Yukari sat down in the chair. Behind her, a waitress picked up Yukari's still full cup of coffee and began to wipe down the table, but Yukari didn't really care about her third cup of coffee. Not like she hadn't already paid for it.

"Y'know, I don't really see you around school much. Do you have any friends?"

"Oh… um, not really… I spend so much time home sick that I don't have much time to hang out with people." Fuuka was already beginning to look uncomfortable. Upon seeing Yukari's critical look, she quickly added, "I have a weak immune system, you see."

"You should join some clubs," Yukari said. "I met a lot of my friends through clubs, and you don't even have to be at school that day to show up to club."

"Oh, I'm actually in a couple of clubs," Fuuka said. "I'm in the Art Club, and I'm in Cooking Club, though not much of my stuff tends to be edible…" There was a long pause after that. She continued to shift uncomfortably in her seat, and Yukari decided it was better if she didn't bother the girl any longer. She stood up.

"Well, I'm going to get going now. But hey, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm always here!" Yukari said. "I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow!"

"Oh… yeah, sure. See you tomorrow," Fuuka weakly waved to Yukari as she left. As Yukari made it outside the shop, she had to wonder if she should have left Fuuka by herself in there. On her way to the exit of the mall, she passed a couple of Ganguro girls who seemed to be laughing about something inside the café. She didn't stop to dwell on it, and continued on to the exit. It had started raining fairly hard outside, and she hadn't thought to bring an umbrella. It had been so dry lately that she hadn't expected any kind of rain today. The phone in her pocket gave a beep and vibrated. Yukari pulled it out, and gained an annoyed expression on her face as she saw who it was from.

sorry we had to cancel :( try again next sunday?

"You could have told me this before I got here…" Yukari grumbled to herself and snapped the phone closed. She looked back toward the café one last time. "I hope that Fuuka girl will be alright…" Shaking her head, she pushed the doors open and walked out into the rain.

* * *

 For Minato, the Sunday had been rather slow and uneventful. Unlike the rest of SEES, he had no prior obligations for today and no friends to pester (had so many of his friendships been Social Link based after all?), so he'd ended up grabbing a magazine and going down to the dorm common room. He lay down on the couch to read his magazine in peace. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't interest himself in the magazine. It just wasn't interesting when he'd already read this supposedly new issue a year ago back in his world.

He lay the magazine on his face to shield it from the light and attempted to fall asleep. This didn't quite work out either, as despite his exhaustion from the previous night, the thoughts in his head continued to keep him from being able to relax. He should have known last night wouldn't be a cakewalk. His only plan going into that fight had been "Prevent Arcana Shadow from being killed" and in the end, he hadn't been able to do that. If he was going to stop the Fall, he'd have to do something that kept the Shadows from being killed without arousing any suspicion from the others. If he could just convince them that Ikutsuki was wrong, he'd have a chance, but he didn't see that as being very likely. Hamuko didn't trust him either, but she didn't know the full extent of his plans.

The sound of footsteps nearby temporarily shook Minato out of his thoughts. Without turning toward the footsteps, he said, "Going somewhere?"

"Ah, yeah," Hamuko's voice answered. Speak of the devil. "Where is everyone, anyways? I haven't seen anyone all morning."

Minato raised up a hand and began to count off people on his fingers. "Mitsuru's having daddy issues, Yukari's on a group date and will have dumped the guy she's on the date with by the end of it, Akihiko's up in his room training, and Junpei's sleeping and will go bug Akihiko when he wakes up." He paused and sat up, causing the magazine to fall from his face. "Where are _you_ going?"

It was only now that Minato was able to actually see Hamuko, and his face fell a bit as he saw her outfit. At first, he thought she was wearing her uniform, but upon closer inspection, he realized she was wearing a black suit jacket and skirt. She was carrying a small black umbrella, as well. Her expression and stance seemed much more subdued than usual. She gave a pained smile at Minato's question. "I was going to…" She shook her head. "Well, you know how there's a graveyard near Naganaki Shrine? I've been so busy lately with school and clubs and Tartarus that I haven't had a chance to…"

Minato shot up off of the couch, already knowing why Hamuko wanted to go to the cemetery. "Wait. Stay here. I'll be right back." He ran toward the stairs, ignoring the objections he could already hear Hamuko yelling. He ran into his bedroom and pulled his suitcase out from under his bed. After rummaging in it for a moment he pulled out a white dress shirt, black suit jacket, and black pants. He quickly changed into them without bothering to really try to look all that neat. On the way out the door, he grabbed a black umbrella, and then ran back downstairs to where Hamuko was waiting. She stared at him with a look of disbelief on her face.

"…I'm ready to go," Minato said after a moment of uncomfortable silence between the two of them.

"Why do you want to come?" Hamuko asked with a wavering voice. Minato didn't answer. His reasons were complicated and selfish, and Hamuko didn't need to know them. She looked away. "…If you don't want to tell me, that's fine too."

"Come on. Let's not wait here any longer," Minato said. Hamuko nodded, and the two of them walked out of the dorm.

* * *

Minato couldn't remember the last time he'd been to a graveyard like this. He hadn't been to one since before that fateful incident on the bridge ten years ago, and after that incident, they'd shipped him off from Port Island before he could even see his parents' grave. The rows upon rows of crowded graves were an image vaguely familiar to Minato; perhaps from a relative's death when he was much younger, or a visit during the Obon festivities. During the walk to the graveyard, the sky had noticeably darkened, and there were low rumbles of thunder in the distance.

The plot for Hamuko's parents' grave was near the back of the graveyard, situated between two identical appearing gravestones. The gravestone itself was weathered, but not so much that the names engraved upon it were unreadable. The two names, written vertically on the grave, read Souta Arisato and Hisako Arisato. The names of Minato's parents.

Hamuko bent down and placed a bundle of flowers on the stone slab in front of the gravestone. She straightened up and looked down at the grave before beginning to pray. Minato didn't say anything. It had been ten years since she'd even had a chance to come to this city, after all. She deserved a moment to properly honor her parents' memory.

She lowered her hands from in front of her face and gave a pained smile at the grave. Minato was sure he saw a few tears begin to roll down her face, but Hamuko quickly wiped them away with a handkerchief. "Hey, Mom, Dad. It's been a while since I've been here… Ever since you died, things have been hectic for me. I've been moving around a lot, but I managed to get a scholarship for the high school down here, so I've been able to come back. Didn't do much for my free time, though, so that's why I had to wait until I had a Sunday off. I've been doing a lot of things, too. Like, helping people… Though most people don't know I'm actually helping them. But that's okay with me."

"Telling them all about what you've been up to?" Minato asked. Hamuko wiped away another tear and nodded.

"Mm-hmm," Hamuko said. There was another rumble of thunder, and both Minato and Hamuko looked up at the sky before turning back toward the grave. "They were the best parents I could ever have… well, they were the only parents I ever had. They were strict, but they were kind, and they were always able to do the best for me. While everyone else… after Mom and Dad died, there was just so much squabbling about their inheritance; everyone just… forgot I existed. I got moved around so much, always to another relative's house before they moved me again."

"It must have been hard," Minato said in a low voice.

"Yeah… I always wanted to come back here to Iwatodai, even after all that had happened. Neither of my parents were from here, but they loved this city so much… I remember them taking me on walks around the city and sometimes Dad would take me to Gekkoukan. He was a teacher there before he died. It wasn't as shiny and new looking back—" Hamuko cut off as she saw how Minato was looking away from her with a pained look on his face. She gave a gasp. "I-I'm sorry… I'm so insensitive, I completely forgot—"

"No, keep going."

Hamuko had a look of confusion on her face before turning away from Minato once more. "Back when Dad taught at Gekkoukan, I remember him saying that someday I'd be able to go to school there too, if my grades were good enough. I didn't really understand any of it back then. I was just six, after all. It wasn't until after he was gone that I finally started putting any kind of effort into my studies."

"What about your mother?"

"She…" Hamuko laughed. "I mainly remember her chasing me around the house trying to give me a spanking after getting into something I shouldn't have done. I was always getting into trouble, so this happened a lot. I kind of wish I'd been a better kid. Maybe even thanked her once for everything she did for me."

"You miss them a lot, don't you?"

Hamuko nodded. "Yeah… they were my family." She turned toward Minato, who had returned to staring at the grave. A single drop of moisture rolled down his cheek. "Minato-kun…?"

"It's raining."

Hamuko looked up toward the sky. The rain had begun while she was talking. "Ah, yeah…"

Minato opened his umbrella and turned toward Hamuko, who did the same with her own umbrella. "Come on; let's go before it starts raining any harder."

Hamuko nodded, and she began walking toward the exit of the gravesite. Minato began to follow after Hamuko, only to stop upon seeing a flash of blue in the corner of his eye. He turned around again in time to see a blue butterfly land on the grave. He stared at the butterfly uncomprehendingly for a moment before walking away from the insect, which fluttered away once more. Whatever message that butterfly had wished to send, Minato had gotten it. He exited the graveyard together with Hamuko, and the two of them returned to the dorm.


	11. Scanning For Scanners

By the next day, the rain had subsided and school had begun once again. Ekoda took no small delight in informing everyone that midterms were soon to begin.

"I'm sure you all remember that midterm exams start next Monday. If you paid attention during class and studied diligently at home, you should have no problems."

Minato bobbed his head in tune to the song. Ekoda turned toward him and called over the class, "Of course, the best way to prepare for a difficult exam is to listen to music all class, like Minato here."

Minato pulled off his headphones. "Sorry, Ekoda-san," he said. A girl near the window giggled. Minato ignored it. He usually listened to his headphones in class, during those rare times he wasn't sleeping. Most of his teachers ignored it, especially Toriumi. Now that he could watch her actions more closely, there was a lot of stuff she let him get away with that she didn't let anyone else get away with. Once, he'd picked up something she'd dropped and returned it to her, and Minato was sure he'd seen traces of a blush on her face. He'd stayed far away from her ever since.

"Hmph. If you choose to neglect your duty as a student and waste your life in idleness, then be my guest. In my day, society was nowhere near as rich and abundant as it is today!" Ekoda continued to rant. "That's why we worked so long and hard: to better our lives. Can you young people say the same? Hmm?"

Minato lay his head on his desk. He began to drowse off.

"Our society's material wealth has come at the cost of its spiritual wealth. In _Ise Monogatari_ , on the contrary…"

* * *

For the next week, exams were the only subject on anyone's mind. Many of the school's clubs locked up for the week so the members could get some studying in. When people weren't studying in the (now very crowded) library, they were studying at the park or in Chagall Café or pretty much anywhere they wouldn't get thrown out for loitering at. This pretty much left Minato and Junpei as the only people who weren't cracking down and studying.

"Why should I? It's only midterms. No sweat!" Junpei said to Minato one morning over breakfast. Minato shared much of a similar attitude. Plus, he was already sure that he was going to ace this thing. He'd aced it once before, after all. He was already sure it was going to be the exact same as before.

However, even Junpei started hitting the books after Mitsuru told Hamuko that she'd give her something special if her grades on the exams were good.

"Y'know, 'cause she might decide to give me somethin' special too, if you know what I mean," explained Junpei on the way to school that day. Yukari groaned.

"I don't think that's what she meant…"

Hamuko turned toward Minato and said jokingly, "Yeah, she didn't really mean _that_ , right?"

Minato suddenly became rather interested in the ocean outside and did not answer.

On the Saturday before exams started, Minato found himself being dragged off to the library. Hamuko approached him and invited him to a group study session together with Yukari and Rio Iwasaki, the volleyball team captain. While studying with the girls wasn't Minato's idea of fun, the thought of what Mitsuru would do to him if she found out he'd turned down a study session was enough to make him accept the offer.

If the library had been crowded before today, then it was bursting at the seams now. The tables were packed with students and books, and those who hadn't been able to make it in time to gain a seat at the tables had taken to hiding between bookshelves and sitting on the floor. It seemed the entire school was trying to get their last minute cramming done.

The group managed to find a small space near a window to sit by and sat down in a circle. As Hamuko opened up her notebook, Minato noticed a rather prominent coffee stain on several of the pages. The other girls' papers showed similar signs of wear and tear, though they didn't seem to mind much. Minato looked down at his own scant, but pristine, notes, and suddenly wondered if he should have put more effort into his studies.

"What should we go over first?" Yukari asked.

"Ms. Terauchi just assigned us that English assignment, so let's get that one first," Hamuko said. She pulled a paper from her English notebook and curled her lip. "Ugh, it's all food… I guess that's easy, right?"

"You three are all in the same homeroom, right?" Rio asked. Minato nodded. "Lucky you. All of my friends are in different homerooms… well, I guess there's Yuko, but she was busy today. Something about Kaz needing an x-ray…"

Minato gave a small nod. He'd chosen to tell Yuko before Kazushi could get a chance to get stubborn about his injuries and hurt himself worse. He knew Kazushi would probably still get stubborn and try to practice anyways, but at least this way Kazushi would have a harder time going about it. Still, Minato knew Kazushi wasn't going to be too happy about him telling Yuko.

"Why haven't you taken out your homework, Rio-chan?" Hamuko asked Rio.

"My class didn't get Ms. Terauchi today. Apparently she left early, so Mr. Edogawa had to fill in."

"That weird nurse?" Yukari gasped. "Ugh, I heard that he never teaches anything on the curriculum. Just that weird, creepy occult stuff he's into."

"I remember once, the school store was out of Yawn-B-Gone, so I went to ask him for something to help… I ran for it when I saw the cauldron in the back of his room," Hamuko recalled.

Minato could feel his attention ebbing. His mind began to wander, and he soon found himself thinking of Shadows. One of the twelve Arcana Shadows was dead, and in less than a month, two more would follow. If he could do something, maybe Emperor or Empress wouldn't die. The week since the last full moon hadn't given him any grand insights on how to convince SEES that it was a mistake to kill Shadows, so there wasn't much point in trying to do that. Plus, that would tip Ikutsuki off that he knew about that.

He squinted down at the notes in front of him in effort to look like he was studying. This only brought him back to thinking about Shadows again. That fight a week ago, on the full moon, had been odd. He swore Priestess had somehow recognized him during that fight. It was impossible—that had been the first and only time, Priestess had seen him in this world. But he still couldn't shake that uneasy feeling.

Minato turned toward a teal haired girl as she walked past. She seemed somewhat familiar…

"…Personally, I think she plays favorites."

"Yeah," Minato said absently. Hamuko looked past him and right at the teal-haired girl. "And who are you looking at?" she asked.

Before Minato could get a chance to answer, Yukari answered for him. "Oh, that's Fuuka Yamigishi. She's in 2E. I ran into her at Chagall Café the other day."

"Huh…"

Minato turned away from Fuuka, who was now putting a book away on a bookshelf nearby. As he looked down at his notes, he realized that he'd never really noticed Fuuka before that first Tartarus meeting in his world.

* * *

1st Semester exams began two days later on Monday. The next six days were nothing but sitting and writing down answers. Going into the exams, Minato felt rather confident. Six days later, he was fairly sure he'd failed everything.

"I should have studied more," Minato mumbled to himself shortly after the last exam ended. His arms lay crossed on the desk, with his head planted between them. He felt a reassuring pat on his shoulder from Junpei. Minato didn't need Junpei to tell him why; he knew they were both worried they were going to fail. With Junpei, it was a guaranteed. But Minato had never failed an exam. He'd always studied in the past.

"So how's it feel to be in Slackerville with Junpei?" Yukari's voice asked from above Minato. Minato gave a lifeless groan.

"Hey, give the man some slack! You should be happy we're finally free!"

"Failed everything…" Minato moaned once more. Hamuko walked up to the three of them, grinning.

"You should have studied more," Hamuko said. She turned to Junpei and Minato. "I thought I'd come tell you Akihiko-san's got the all clear."

"So he'll be fighting with us again?" Yukari asked.

"Awright, Akihiko-san's gonna be leading us into battle! So, Hamu-tan, how does it feel to be ousted in favor of the great champion boxer, Akihiko-san?"

"Oh, um… Actually, he asked me if I keep leading us, since I've been doing so well so far."

Junpei gave a disappointed sounding "Oh." After a small, he added, "Well, yeah. That makes sense."

Hamuko sat down on a desk and crossed her legs. She turned to Yukari and asked, "When are scores posted?"

"Monday, I think." Yukari looked down at Minato and prodded him. "How long are you going to sit there?"

"As long as it takes for my scores to magically change to something better…"

Yukari stared at Minato for another moment. She shrugged and turned to Hamuko. "Come on, let's go celebrate the end of exams! Summer's coming soon, and I think if I see you wearing that orange cardigan one more time I'm going to puke." She grabbed Hamuko and dragged her toward the doorway. Hamuko turned to Junpei and Minato and shrugged, before letting Yukari pull her away. Junpei watched them go, and smacked Minato on the back.

"Come on, let's go get ramen. My treat."

Minato pulled himself to his feet. Ramen sounded _great_ right now. He nodded and followed Junpei out the door.

* * *

Junpei and Minato were the first to return to the dorm that night, stomachs full of special Hagakure ramen. Somehow the taste of beef and broth never got old when it came from that restaurant. Hamuko and Yukari returned a few hours later, loaded down with plastic bags filled with clothing. After depositing their bags in their rooms, the two girls joined Minato and Junpei down in the lounge.

Akihiko walked into the dorm later that night as the four were in the midst of an intense discussion about whether the teachers from their school were harvested from an insane asylum or not. Minato was planted firmly on the "asylum" side of the discussion, while Hamuko simply thought the teachers were eccentric.

"—just look at Ono, no sane person obsesses over the Heian Period that much," Minato insisted. Just as he said so, Yukari and Junpei jumped up from their seats and crowded around Akihiko. Minato frowned and stood up, as did Hamuko, who joined Yukari and Junpei near Akihiko.

"Senpai, I hear you're fully healed!" Yukari said happily.

"Congrats, man!" Junpei added. Akihiko chuckled.

"I need to catch up on my training. I've slacked off for a whole month," Akihiko said. Hamuko frowned and stepped a little closer to the group.

"Are you sure? You just got the all clear," Hamuko said.

"Yeah, you don't want to reinjure your arm," Yukari said, a concerned tone in her voice. Minato was officially not interested. This was all a conversation he'd heard before… Déjà vu was an interesting thing. Or time-space travel, he supposed. Alternate dimensions were weird.

"I've already wasted precious time," Akihiko said. Hamuko looked a little disheartened at Akihiko's answer. However, what Akihiko said next caused the others to brighten up quite a bit. "Besides, I've found another Persona user."

"R-Really? Sweet!" Junpei said happily. He paused before adding, "Is it a girl…?"

"Actually, it is." Junpei gained an extremely pleased expression, like a child who had just been told he'd be able to buy this toy he really, really loved. Minato rolled his eyes. Guy needed to keep it in his pants a little better. "She's a junior who goes to our school. Fuuka Yamagishi… Do you guys know her?"

"Yamagishi…?" Yukari got a rather focused expression, like she was trying to remember some vague memory. "Oh, that girl in 2-E... She gets sick a lot, from what I heard. I don't see her at school very often." Minato noted a rather flat expression on Yukari's face. He wasn't entirely sure what that was about. Had something happened with Yukari and Fuuka?

"She was at the same hospital as me. That's how we found out about her." Akihiko sighed. He sounded rather disappointed. "But, maybe she's not cut out for battle. I had an Evoker made for her, too…"

"Whaaaat?! We're giving up on her already?!" Junpei cried out.

"…There's other Persona abilities than battle oriented ones, Akihiko-san," Minato spoke up.

"I was gonna offer her some private lessons…"

"On second thought, maybe it's safer for her to stay away."

"What kind of lessons?" Hamuko asked innocently.

"Heheh, I'll leave that to your imagination," Junpei mischievously answered. Yukari groaned, glaring at Junpei. "Wh-Why're you lookin' at me like that? C'mon… I'm a guy. Whaddya expect!?"

* * *

Minato stood off to the side, watching the three others in their group take down some Shadows on their own. They'd entered this new block in Tartarus that night, and brought Akihiko along for good measure. The change in scenery had been rather disorienting, and some of the new Shadows that roamed these halls had managed to catch the others off guard. Akihiko was managing to take care of most of the Shadows, though. He seemed quite enthusiastic to be back in the team.

For the most part, Minato had been able to remember the strategy these Shadows used. Tiaras liked to sneak up on you, turning invisible and then stabbing you in the back. Ravens attacked from the air and were hard to hit at close range. Mayas attacked from the shadows, waiting for you to pass by before going for your ankles. Beasts stalked you before attacking in groups. There were a few other types that wandered this section of Tartarus, but those were the main few Minato could think of.

" _Arisato! Behind you!"_

Minato turned his head in time to catch sight of a Tiara before an arrow flew past his face and into the body of the Shadow, pinning it against the bloodstained purple walls of the corridor. The Shadow squirmed and squealed before its body dissolved into mist. The arrow that had pinned it against the wall still held strong.

"Thanks for the save…" Minato said. That could have potentially been bad, to say the least. Akihiko turned toward Minato.

"You need to be more alert of your surroundings. If you aren't watching what's around you, the enemy can get the jump on you at any time," he said.

"Hey, give him a break," Hamuko said. "I don't think any of us saw that."

"Those things can turn invisible; of course none of us saw it," Minato added. _And I know this better than any of you,_ he added bitterly in his mind. Hamuko must have seen his expression, because she suddenly tried to change the subject.

"I think I liked this tower a lot more when it looked like the inside of our school," Hamuko commented. "Now it's just weird and purple and…"

"Baroque?" Minato offered.

"I guess?" Hamuko shrugged. "The architecture's definitely different."

"Yeah, but there's still blood everywhere." Yukari pulled a shoe from a puddle of blood on the ground and looked at it with disgust.

"Hey! Are we just going to stand around here or are we going to go try and find the stairs?" Akihiko yelled. Hamuko sighed and walked toward Akihiko.

"We're coming."

They continued through the tower, cutting their way through large groups of Shadows as they went. Akihiko took out the majority of the Shadows, attacking them with a kind of gusto that Minato had almost never seen before. Almost, because he could remember Akihiko acting this same way the first time they'd gone into Tartarus together. Akihiko had a kind of enthusiasm for battle that surpassed everyone in their group… except maybe Hamuko. She rushed into battle almost as readily as Akihiko did.

They came out on a floor of a much different structure than the previous ones. The floor was perfectly square shaped, with nine large columns arranged in rows in the center of the room. Standing in the center were three large tables draped with red tablecloths. Minato grasped his sword better. Those had to be the guardians.

" _There are three powerful Shadows in this room. Be careful."_

"Thank you Mitsuru, I couldn't guess," Minato grumbled under his breath. Akihiko cracked his knuckles, and before Minato could say anything more, he ran at a table and punched it. Akihiko's hand bounced off of the hard wood surface. He took a step back from the table and glared at it. A large blue mask rose up out of the table cloth. The mask's features shifted into a grotesque smirk before a burst of flame flew out from the mask and at Akihiko. The blast knocked Akihiko against the floor, causing him to skid toward the rest of the group.

"Dammit…" Akihiko pushed himself up on one arm. The other two Shadows had masks appear on their bodies as well, and the table legs extended out, becoming spindly flexible. The utensils and dishes that had lay on the table before rose into the air, the forks and knives becoming staves and swords. A floating goblet ignited with a magical fire.

" _Those Shadows are resistant to striking attacks!"_

"Tch..." Akihiko got to his feet and stepped back. "Alright, if I can't just punch you to death, then… _Polydeuces!"_ He unholstered his Evoker and pointed it at his forehead. Upon pulling the trigger, a large, heavily built man with long blond hair appeared. It crouched down and sprang up, lightning emanating from its body and flying at the table that had struck Akihiko. The lightning struck, burning a hole in the tablecloth on its body.

Yukari summoned her Persona, and began to heal Akihiko's wounds, keeping a constant stream of healing energy flowing between them. She moved to the back of the room as she did so. Minato and Hamuko both moved to the front.

"I think it's safe to assume these guys are weak against ice," Minato said. Hamuko nodded, and the two of them both pulled out their evokers.

"Yomotsu-Shikome!"

"Forneus!"

The longhaired woman appeared in front of Minato once more, and a large manta ray-like Persona appeared in front of Hamuko. The two Personas let off Bufu spells, striking a table and knocking it to the ground. Minato ran up to the fallen Shadow and sliced the mask down the center, cutting it neatly in half. The Shadow dissolved into mist around Minato. Red flames rose up from around one of the other two Tables, and flew toward the others. Minato was hit in the shoulder by the attack. Pain exploded from the site of impact, and he grasped his burned shoulder. Hamuko screamed, and Minato turned toward her in time to see her fall to the ground, her Persona disappearing upon impact.

The Table rose up on its "hind" legs and another large burst of flame gathered underneath it. The Shadow's body turned toward Hamuko. With that attack… it was going in for the kill.

A lightning bolt shot from the other side of the room, striking the Shadow in one of its hind legs. The Shadow fell to the side and the prepared spell dissipated. A Garu flew from the same part of the room, hitting the Shadow and causing it to skid further away. Hamuko pushed herself up and turned toward Yukari and Akihiko. "Th-Thanks for the save…"

"Think about what Personas you use before you rush in, okay?" Akihiko prepped another Zio and sent it flying toward the fallen table. Deciding the others had that table handled, Minato ran at the remaining undamaged Table. The Shadow flung its weapons at Minato. He dodged out of the way of the sword, which stuck in the floor, and blocked the staff with his own sword. Running past the weapons, he cut at the Shadow's mask, causing it to screech out in pain. The Shadow reared up and the flaming goblet flew down from its body and hit Minato in the head. He reeled back, and looked up to see the Shadow on its hind legs, another Agilao forming underneath it. He braced himself for an attack when the Shadow suddenly became encased in a giant icicle. The icicle shattered, and the Table dissolved into mist.

"Got it!" Hamuko called. Another lightning bolt from Polydeuces finished off the last of the tables, causing it to dissolve as well. Hamuko walked over to where the Shadows had fallen and picked up a bit of cloth they'd dropped. She gave a sigh of relief and turned toward the others.

"I think we're done for the day."

* * *

_Well, I did better than I expected._

Minato stared at the scores. Middling rank wasn't that bad, after all. It could have been better though. He looked at Hamuko's score, which ranked up at the top ten in their grade. He definitely could have done better. Hamuko looked slightly nervous at the attention she was getting from the other juniors.

"Hey, brighten up!" Yukari put a hand on Minato's shoulder. "At least you did better than Junpei."

Minato looked behind him, and noted Junpei near the back of the group. He seemed to be trying to be trying to stealthily make his way out of the crowd.

"Well, at least now no one's going to think me and Hamuko are related anymore with these scores," Minato said, groaning.

"Why?" Hamuko asked.

"People expect family members to have similar scores."

"Really?" Hamuko tilted her head to the side. "That's a little silly, don't you think?"

Minato shrugged.

"Well, I'm going to go back to the classroom. See you later," Hamuko said. Yukari left a few minutes later, leaving Minato by himself at the board. He was about to check and see if he could find the scores of anyone else he knew when he heard some voices from nearby. He turned to see a group of ganguro girls gathered around one small teal-haired girl. He could swear he'd seen them before…

"Hey, Fuuka, look at that, you got a pretty high score!"

"Yeah, pretty good for you, huh?"

"O-Oh… yes…"

"Too bad no guy will date a girl with a score like that. They want beauty, not brains."

"Yeah, and you sure as hell don't have that," a ganguro girl with a single ponytail added. Minato suddenly realized where he'd seen her face before. That was Natsuki, one of the girls who had bullied Fuuka before. So that meant that girl in the middle was…

Natsuki took out her cell phone. "Hey, don't you have a crush on Hasha-san? I wonder what he'd think if he saw your scores…" She held the phone up so that it was on level with Fuuka's name on the list. Fuuka jumped up and tried to grab Natsuki's cell phone, but Natsuki pulled it out of reach. The other girls started to laugh.

"He wouldn't even look at Fuuka anyways. He only dates the really pretty girls," another girl, one with twin pigtails, added. Fuuka stopped leaping for the phone, and Natsuki lowered it down to level with the board again. Minato could see Fuuka's eyes start to tear up.

"P-Please d-don't…"

"Just gotta hit send and—hey!" Minato clasped his hand down on the phone, shutting it.

"I think that's enough." He pulled the phone away from Natsuki's hand and flicked it open. The screen displayed a plain background. "Not very nice to pretend to take a picture of someone's scores, either."

"G-Give that back!" Natsuki pulled the phone back from Minato. "Wh-Whatever, I don't need to listen to you. Come on, let's go."

The group of ganguro girls walked away, leaving Minato and Fuuka. "Th-Thank you for helping me…" She wiped some tears away, and when she looked up at Minato, he could see that she was blushing a bit. Oh dear. He'd seen that face before. Well, he wasn't a man to pass up an opportunity. Might as well use it.

"It sounds like they've been harassing you for a while now," Minato commented. "You shouldn't listen to them. Besides, guys like smart girls more than pretty girls. At least, I do." He winked at Fuuka, and she blushed harder.

"O-Oh, that is… um…" Wow, she was really flustered. She made this _way_ too easy. He smiled at her, and then, deciding to be a little adventurous, he grasped her hand. Fuuka's face was rather red at this point, and the rather blatant flirting really wasn't helping her get any less flustered.

"Hey, do you want to have lunch together some time?" Hm, that was maybe moving a little too fast. After all, he didn't want to drive her away, and she was ever so shy. Fuuka slipped her hand out of Minato's grasp. Yeah, too fast. "I'd like to get to know you a bit better. I mean, if that's alright."

"Um… I think that would be alright…" She said, her face still quite red. "And, um… thanks again, um…"

"Minato Arisato."

"Oh! You're one of the new transfer students!" She bowed her head a little. "I-I'm very pleased to meet you then! Oh, oh goodness, I haven't even given you my name… My name is Fuuka Yamagishi."

"Yeah, I could guess," Minato said, and motioned to the board. For some reason, this only made Fuuka blush more. From embarrassment he supposed. "So how about Wednesday? Does that sound good?"

"Huh? A-Ah, yes! That sounds w-wonderful!"

"Great. I'll see you then," Minato said. Fuuka nodded profusely and moved to leave, but stopped when Minato spoke up again. "And hey, tell me if those girls start trying to harass you again, okay?" Fuuka nodded again and walked down the hallway and back toward the second year rooms. Minato sighed and was about to do the same when Junpei spoke up from behind him.

"Woah, what was with that?"

"You're still here? I thought you were going to go hide in shame after seeing your scores."

"Wh-what? Hey man, that's cold," Junpei groaned. "So, who's the chick?"

"Fuuka Yamagishi," Minato said with a kind of pride.

"Fuu—" The realization of what Minato meant hit Junpei. "H-Hey, I wanted to speak to her first!"

"Too bad," Minato said. "She was right there the whole time. You could have asked her."

"Hey man, I didn't even know what she looked like…"

"Then you shouldn't have gotten so excited when you found out we were getting another girl." Minato looked up at the clock on the wall. Lunch was nearly over. He needed to hurry back to class before it ended. He put his hands in his pockets and started walking back down the hallway.


	12. Minato Goes On A Date

Minato waited outside the door to 2-E. The lunch bell had rung a few minutes ago, and while he'd agreed to meet with Fuuka on the roof, he still felt rather bothered by something. The door to the classroom opened, and Fuuka walked out, clutching a small bento. She was staring down at her feet so intensely that Minato wasn't sure she noticed him.

"Fuuka-chan!" Minato called. She jerked her head up and her eyes widened upon seeing him.

"A-Arisato-san! I-I thought we were having lunch on th-the roof!"

"Please, just call me Minato," Minato said. "And I thought I'd meet you down here first. Plus, I didn't know if the roof was really your thing, and…"

"No, it's okay," Fuuka said. Minato shrugged in acceptance. If she was alright with that, he was fine with it too. The two of them walked up the stairs to the roof and sat down on a bench. Minato warily watched Fuuka unwrap her bento. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the food was very definitely edible. There wasn't an odd smell coming from the box, for one. He opened his own lunch and pulled out a pair of chopsticks.

"That looks good…" Fuuka commented. "Did you prepare it yourself?"

"Mmhm."

"It's a lot better than my own cooking."

Minato was sure he was going to regret what he said next. "I'm sure it's not that bad." And then, just to further drive the nail into the coffin, "I wouldn't mind trying it sometime."

"R-Really?"

Minato fought back the memories of some of Fuuka's cooking and nodded. She straightened up and smiled at Minato, and then looked down at her bento. She rather hastily began to scoop rice into her mouth, as if she was embarrassed. Minato began to eat his food as well, though at a much slower rate. He was halfway through eating a boiled egg when Fuuka spoke up again.

"U-Um, out of curiosity, why did you help me back there?" Minato didn't answer immediately, as he was still biting down his egg, so Fuuka continued. "I-I mean, you didn't really need to… I'm very grateful for it, but…"

Minato swallowed down the egg. Egg was not supposed to be that tough to chew. "Because it was the right thing to do."

"Oh…" She lowered her chopsticks. "W-Well, thank you very much."

Minato nodded his head. Fuuka's eyes drifted to the MP3 player hanging from Minato's neck, and suddenly she seized it with both hands. Her eyes glittered with amazement.

"I-Is this the NW-S205F Walkman player?!"

"Eh?!"

"I thought this was it… I remember when this was announced. It was marketed mainly to athletic types, and has a built in pedometer as well as separate playlists for if you're walking or running. I've been looking all over for one of these!" Fuuka looked up at Minato. "Um… do you mind if I look at it?"

Minato unclipped the MP3 player from its lanyard and handed it to Fuuka. She cycled through the songs on it for about a minute before going back to examining the device itself. After a few minutes of Fuuka just looking at the device, Minato started feeling a bit ignored.

"Hamuko has one that's the same model as mine, too."

Fuuka looked up from the player. "Hamuko?"

"Hamuko Arisato. She transferred in at the same time I did."

"She has the same surname as you… Are you two rela—"

"No."

Fuuka blinked in surprise at the rather immediate response. She handed the MP3 player back to Minato, and he clipped it back onto the lanyard.

"I'm a little jealous, actually. I've been looking for a while but I've never been able to find one of those… even if I could, I don't have the money for it…"

A light bulb switched on in Minato's head. "Actually, I've been thinking of upgrading to something else lately. If you could help me pick out a new MP3 player, you can have this one."

Fuuka's eyes widened in surprise, and she nearly dropped her bento, managing to catch it before it could go tumbling to the ground. She turned toward Minato. "Y-You don't have to do that!"

"Why not? I'm not going to need this after I get a new one. You can keep it." Minato put the top back on his bento and turned toward Fuuka as well. The lunch bell would ring soon. "How do you feel about tomorrow night?"

"I have photography club tomorrow…"

"Then Friday? I have track practice then, but I'm okay with afterwards," Minato said. Honestly, he didn't like waiting until after clubs were over to do things. He usually cut it a little too close to when the Dark Hour started, and there was more than a few times when Minato had gotten himself stuck on the other side of the bay and had to walk back as a result. Still, Fuuka had the Potential. It wouldn't be too much of a problem if they were caught in the Dark Hour.

"Oh, that works."

"Then let's meet outside of Port Island Station at eight," Minato looked at the clock once more. It was getting pretty close to the end of lunch. He put the top back onto his bento and stood up.

"Oh, sure… that's fine with me." Fuuka stood up and lightly bowed her head to Minato. "Th-Thank you for the company."

Minato raised an eyebrow, but didn't respond vocally. She really didn't need to thank him for that. He shrugged and accepted it. The bell rang, and the two of them walked back downstairs to their respective rooms.

* * *

_..Where is she?_

Minato glanced nervously at his watch. It was nearly ten now, and Fuuka was still nowhere to be seen. This didn't feel like something she'd do either. He was sure he was getting some odd stares for how long he'd been sitting alone on this bench, but he wasn't sure he wanted to leave until he was sure where she was. He looked up at the waxing crescent moon, which was now high in the cloudless sky. How long was it until the full moon, anyways?

Had something come up? It didn't seem like she'd be the one to turn him down without saying anything, but on the other hand, she didn't really have any way to contact him. Really, he should have remembered to give her his phone number. Wasn't that the first thing you did with girls?

Of course, he could have been a little too forward. He ran his hands through his hair. She was definitely infatuated with him, that much was rather obvious. Honestly, Minato didn't think he liked her back, at least not in the way she liked him. It was always so hard for him to talk to his old friends. They were logically the same people, just at an earlier point in time, but somehow that was what made it difficult for him.

"…what are we going to do if she commits suicide?!"

A ganguro girl with pigtails ran out from the alleys behind the station, followed by a few other girls, a lot of them dressed in the same fashion. One of the girls in the back of the ground was Natsuki. She appeared to be keeping herself away from whatever the main problem was.

"I don't think she's actually going to do that…"

"Yeah, what's your problem?"

The pigtailed girl seemed rather panicked. Minato couldn't help but feel like there was an empty, possessed look in her eyes.

"Maki, why are you freaking out so much?"

"If she kills herself, we're going to get in so much trouble! I-I'm going to go let her out…"

"Seriously, why are you so sure she's going to kill herself?"

"Besides, how are you going to sneak past the security guard and get in?"

"I-I'll wait for him to leave or something…"

Minato shot to his feet and began to walk over to the girls. He'd realized what they were talking about, and he was both angry and afraid. Angry, because he should have known what was wrong when Fuuka never showed up. Afraid, because he knew what was about to happen to Fuuka and the girls she'd been bullied by.

"You locked Fuuka in the gym?"

"Hey, look. It's Fuuka-chan's new boyfriend," one of the girls said. Maki yelped and began to cry.

"I'm sorry, I was going to go let her out now, please don't—"

"All of you, I want you to go to the co-ed dorm in Iwatodai and tell them what you did and stay there. Don't go anywhere else tonight." It was a futile order, but Minato felt he needed to say it. And then, just as quickly as he'd come up to them, he started running off toward the street again. He had precious little time until the Dark Hour.

"…Wow, what a weirdo. Come on Maki, I think you need something to calm down… drinks on me."

* * *

Minato clenched his hand around the fence and pulled himself up and over it, dropping over on the other side of the fence. He needed to get into the school without the security guard catching him. The security guard left the school before midnight, but right now it wasn't a viable option to wait until then. There wouldn't be enough time to find Fuuka if he waited that long.

Footsteps sounded from somewhere nearby, and Minato ducked behind a tree. A yellow light shone through the branches of the trees, and a man wearing a uniform resembling a policeman's walked up to the fence. Minato instinctively reached for his Evoker.

"…Thought I heard somethin'… damn kids," the guard mumbled to himself and began to walk back to the school. Minato grabbed a large rock from the ground and began to make his way toward the school. The guard pulled out his keys and began to either unlock or lock the door; Minato couldn't tell which from his position. Acting quickly, Minato ran toward the school and threw a rock at one of the windows. It broke through with a satisfying shatter.

"What the hell was that?!"

The guard ran off toward the window, which was Minato's queue to run to the door while he was distracted. The guard had missed where Minato had been standing in his rush to get over there, which was perfectly fine with Minato. Minato ran up the steps to the double doors and pulled the open, quickly ducking into the school as he did so. He could hear the guard's muffled yells of frustration, but he ignored them. He had more important things to do right now.

Minato ran down the hallway to the faculty room and into the unlocked room. He began to walk over to the wall of keys, only to stop when he heard a clanging noise. He jerked his head around, and became rather painfully aware of his heart beating against his ribcage. Come to think about it, weren't there rumors of a murderous ghost at the school…? Minato gave a nervous laugh and returned to searching for the gym key. That was just a rumor that spread _after_ Fuuka disappeared. He was far too nervous right now. He brushed his hand across the rack of keys, causing them to reveal their labels and make a much louder noise than Minato cared for. He spotted the key labeled "gym" and pulled it off of its hook.

He ran through the lobby and through the hallways until he made it to the gym, in the school's second building. Upon entering the building, he began to hear muffled sobs from the gym, and ran to the gym door and knocked furiously on it.

"Fuuka!"

The sobs stopped and it was a few seconds before a voice called, "Arisato-san?"

Minato fumbled with the key and tried to push it into the lock on the door. It was so dark… just how late was it? "I'm going to get you out of here, okay Fuu—"

There was a sudden absence of darkness as the walls began to glow green with an unearthly light. Minato jerked his head around in a panic and he attempted to pull the door open for a moment before the ground underneath him started to shift. Large sections of the floor lifted up, tilted, turned, morphed, becoming something that was very clearly not part of the school. Minato found himself thrown this way and that. A rising section of the floor slammed him into a wall, and he blacked out.

* * *

The next morning, the news all over school was that a student had been found lying in front of the front gates. Unsurprisingly enough, she'd been diagnosed with Apathy Syndrome, though there was still the question of why she was at school that early in the morning in the first place. Hamuko wasn't sure what to make of the news herself. Obviously a Shadow was responsible for her Apathy Syndrome, so maybe she'd just wandered too close to the school during the Dark Hour and had a meal made of her.

Mitsuru stopped Hamuko in the hallways during lunch that day. There was a look of worry on her face that Hamuko couldn't recall ever seeing before. That was enough to tell Hamuko whatever this was, it was serious.

"Hamuko, did Minato come to school with you today?"

"No, why?"

"He never returned to the dorm last night."

"I haven't seen him in class at all today either." Now she was really worried. It didn't seem like Minato to skip out on school, particularly like this. And the fact that he hadn't come back to the dorm… something was very wrong.

"He informed me he would be late getting back, but I assumed he returned some time during the night. Do you know where he went last night?"

"He said he was 'going on a date with Fuuka'," Hamuko said. Junpei had been rather torn up about the fact that Minato had managed to score a date with the possible new girl on the team, though somehow Hamuko doubted it had been much of a date just from how Yukari acted toward Minato ever since their supposed visit to a karaoke booth shortly before Hamuko rejoined the team.

"I'll try to get into contact with Yamagishi then."

Hamuko nodded to Mitsuru and continued walking down the hall to lunch. For the rest of the day Minato didn't reappear, and Hamuko's worry grew. After class ended, she tried to call him.

_"I'm sorry, but the caller you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please try again later…"_

She supposed she should have expected that. So wherever he was, either he had no phone reception or his phone was off. Hamuko doubted that he was trying to avoid them, too. He certainly hadn't been acting any odder than he usually did lately, for one. So where could he be?

"What's up? You look worried," Yukari asked.

"Minato never came back from his date last night."

"Yeah, come to think about it, that Fuuka girl wasn't at school today either," Yukari commented. "I heard she was just out sick, though…"

"Maybe…" Hamuko thought to herself. She turned toward Yukari, and her mouth curled into a grin at her friend's expression. Oh, she knew _that_ look. Unfortunately, Yukari noticed her Cheshire Cat-like grin and immediately became defensive.

"What are you giving me that look for?!"

"Y'know, you should just tell him."

"Wh- As if! The guy's a complete perv. Karaoke night was the one and _only_ time I'll go out with him."

"What happened then, anyways?" Hamuko asked, her curiosity piqued.

"He took me to Mandragora and rented out one of those absolutely _puny_ booths so we'd be forced to sit next to each other, and then tried to get a little _too_ close and personal. I ended up walking out on him halfway through our hour. All of his song choices sucked, anyways. They were all weird English rap songs."

Hamuko chose not to comment on that due to her own taste in "weird English rap songs."

* * *

The first thing Minato was aware of as he slowly came to was that he was lying on cold tile floor with his mouth directly in a pool of blood. He sputtered and spat the blood from his mouth as he sat up, and moved as far away from the pool as he could. He put a hand on his head and began to massage a lump on his forehead. That was not his favorite way to enter Tartarus. He checked his person. Evoker? Check. Cell phone? Check. Headphones? Check. Weapon of any kind? Not a check. Communicator? Definitely not a check. His memories of how he'd entered Tartarus were at best fuzzy. It had been related to Fuuka… he must have gotten pulled in with her. How long had he been out? Thirty minutes? An hour? It was nothing short of a miracle that no Shadows had gotten to him yet.

He stood up and looked around at his surroundings. Odd purple baroque scenery… Arqa block, some indeterminable distance from the base of Tartarus. He needed to find Fuuka and get out of here. He looked around at his surroundings. At least three hallways he could take. If he dawdled too long, that _thing_ would come after him. He put a hand on his shoulder. He'd rather not encounter that thing again.

And then, right on cue, he started hearing chains clanging against each other. God _dammit._

Minato began to panic. He wasn't sure which hallway to take, and if he took the wrong one, there was a very high chance that he would die. He'd never been strong enough to take that thing on head-on with a party, much less by himself, and he definitely did not have a death wish.

Wait, what was that?!

Minato turned his head toward the furthest hallway. He was sure he'd seen a hand beckoning him from that hallway. At this point, he was in too much of a panic to question it and ran down the hallway. He could hear the Reaper chasing after him from behind him, though it was far enough away it wasn't trying to kill him yet. Another hand beckoned from another corner, and Minato turned that way and into a room with a staircase. He looked behind him for a moment before running up the stairs. He tripped on the last stair fell just as a bullet whizzed past his head. Then the ground sealed up, blocking up the

"Who's there…? Are you human?"

"Fuuka!" Minato yelled as he struggled to pull himself to his feet again. His headache had spiked and now his vision was going blurry. He managed to catch sight of a green haired figure as she walked toward him before his vision went black and he passed out again.

* * *

"Mr. Chairman."

Ikutsuki calmly closed the folder of papers he had been reading when Mitsuru walked in. Her eyes moved toward the folder. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh, just some information related to the original incident. I thought it might help me form a coherent hypothesis as to the identity of those large Shadows." Ikutsuki looked up at Mitsuru with a curious look. She seemed worried about something. "What's on your mind?"

"Arisato didn't return the other night."

"Which one?"

"Minato. Supposedly he was on a date with Yamagishi, but he never returned. I haven't been able to get in contact with Yamagishi either."

Ikutsuki gained a bit of a mischievous grin. "Ah, young lovers… they always do tend to get into this kind of trouble don't they? There is always the possibility they don't want to be found…"

"M-Mr. Chairman!"

Ikutsuki chuckled. "I'm only joking. What are Yamagishi's absences being blamed on?"

"Illness, the same as always."

"Hmm… Perhaps you should talk with the hospital and make sure she's not there before doing anything rash," Ikutsuki commented. "I'll ask Officer Kurosawa to keep an eye out for Minato."

Mitsuru nodded, and left the room. Once the door closed, Ikutsuki opened the folder of files he'd been looking at before Mitsuru's entrance and returned to his studies.

* * *

Minato's eyes fluttered open. His head hurt like a _bitch_ , and he couldn't move without seeing double. He attempted to sit up, only for a gentle hand to push him back down again.

"Don't move please," Fuuka said quietly. "You've got a bit of a concussion… you need to rest."

Minato didn't argue. He honestly did not want to move right now. He looked up at the ceiling, and tried to pretend he didn't see the large sculpted face looking down at him. The floor structures in Tartarus were always weird, but Arqa's had always taken the cake with their odd staring faces on every floor corner.

"How long have I been out?" Minato asked.

"A couple hours… I had to pull you out of danger a couple of times because I felt these monsters coming toward us…"

 _A couple—_ Minato nearly jolted back up again but the spiking headache kept him from doing so. That meant he'd been in Tartarus at _least_ three days. He needed to get Fuuka out _now,_ before Emperor and Empress appeared. The easiest path out was through the teleporters scattered through Tartarus. "Have you seen any of these devices while you've been wandering around? They're attached to the floor and have a glowing yellow core."

"…I've seen something like that, but they weren't glowing. It looked like something had chopped them in half."

Minato swore rather loudly, causing Fuuka to draw back from him in surprise and lightly admonish him. Something was trying to trap them inside Tartarus. Was it the Arcana Shadows? That definitely seemed likely enough… He wasn't sure if they could appear outside of a Full Moon, but if they could… He didn't want to think of the possibilities with that. At the very least something was trying to trap them inside Tartarus.

He pushed himself to his feet and balanced himself against a wall until he got his balance. "We need to get to a floor with a window."

"Why that specific floor?"

"They're safe floors, Shadows don't appear in them," Minato explained.

"…You knew about this place before, didn't you?" Fuuka asked astutely. Minato slowly nodded. "Was that why you came to find me before?"

Minato stayed quiet for a few seconds after that before he started walking. "Let's just get going."

They started walking down the halls together, Fuuka staying behind Minato. Every now and then she'd pull him down another hallway, and Minato would see a Shadow pass down the hall they had just gone down. Fuuka stared at the Evoker at Minato's waist.

"Um… that gun, I've been wondering about it…"

"It's not real."

"W-Well, no, I didn't think it was, but—"

"It's not an airsoft gun either."

Fuuka blinked in surprise. "U-Um, then what is it?"

"It's how I summon my Persona." That was definitely not explaining it at all, but Minato didn't feel like being bothered right now. Right now he just wanted to rest. He probably needed rest too, but now wasn't a very good time to do so. That was part of the reason he wanted to get up to one of the safe floors. The other reason was because he wanted a good view of the moon. If they were trapped in Tartarus, he at least wanted to know how long he had to wait before that "no return" point of the two Arcana Shadows' appearance.

They walked up a flight of stairs, and Minato watched the floor seal behind them before taking a step forward. He stopped when he saw the group of Shadows blocking their path. A large group of lion-like Shadows had blocked their path. Minato drew his Evoker and pressed it to his head.

"W-Wait, what are you—"

" _ORPHEUS!"_

The lyre-wielding man appeared in front of Minato and blasted through a Wild Beast with an Agilao spell, instantly turning the Shadow to cinders. Another Wild Beast pounced at Minato and Orpheus cast a Maragi spell to drive it back. The Maragi spell formed a wall between the two students and the Shadows, and eventually the Shadows ran off. Minato rested a hand against the wall.

"…That tired me out," Minato commented.

"Wh-What was that?"

"Let's get to a safe floor before I start answering any questions."

* * *

While Minato fought Shadows in Tartarus, Hamuko was lying in her bed. Though Ikutsuki had contacted the police and Mitsuru had tried to get in touch with Fuuka, no one was sure where Minato or Fuuka were. Making things worse was Junpei's insistence that _ghosts_ were involved somehow. It was really kind of stupid. The worst part was Yukari was so freaked out by the ghost story that she'd roped Hamuko and Junpei into investigating it with her. She rolled over and faced the wall. She was sure it was something not related to ghosts… Come to think of it, it just seemed kind of odd Minato had started dating Fuuka right after Akihiko announced she might be joining the team…

Hamuko felt an odd pressure on the end of her bed, and sat up. Sitting on the end was the same boy in striped clothing from before. He was starting to appear to her a lot more frequently now.

"Good evening," he said in a friendly voice. "I came to see you again, just as I promised. How are you?"

"…Not well," Hamuko admitted, and she explained how Minato and Fuuka had gone missing to the boy.

"Hm…" the boy frowned and tilted his head to the side. "That is rather strange… I did notice that the strange flower I sensed before had disappeared."

"Why do you always talk in flower metaphors?"

"Flowers are beautiful, fragile objects. Just like you, my dearest."

Woaaah. That was a little creepy… and strangely endearing? Somehow the creepy kid that Hamuko was pretty sure was only in her head calling her "my dearest" was endearing to her. Maybe she had more problems than she thought.

"If you were to ask me, I think your friends' disappearance may have to do with what I came to warn you about," the boy continued. "A new ordeal will be coming soon, on the night of the full moon. Be careful…"

He climbed off of her bed and smiled toward her. _"My dearest."_ He then disappeared like he hadn't been in the room at all. Hamuko stared at the spot where he'd been, feeling a tiny bit creeped out. She'd changed her mind, that "my dearest" thing was just kind of creepy.

* * *

Another person was discovered in front of the school that morning. This time, Hamuko and Yukari got to school in time to see who it was. It was a girl wearing a lot of makeup with bleached hair in a ponytail. The entrance to the school was blocked off while they pulled the girl into the ambulance, so no one could enter quite yet.

"…This is just why we need to find out what's _really_ going on here," Yukari said with a bit of a huff. "I'm going to start investigating today. Can't slack off!"

"…Hey, that girl."

Hamuko turned to see who was behind her, and saw Junpei on time for once. He was staring at the girl they were carrying off.

"Do you know her?" Hamuko asked.

"Yeah, she was one of the girls bullying Fuuka-chan that time!" Junpei exclaimed. Yukari pondered to herself.

"…I've got a theory, but I need a couple days to look into it. You two keep looking into that ghost story, while I do some things myself."

She ran off into the school, leaving Junpei and Hamuko by themselves. Hamuko looked toward Junpei and shrugged, and the two of them walked into the school together.

* * *

On Friday, Yukari, Junpei, and Hamuko met in the lounge to discuss their findings. Yukari looked rather eager, so Hamuko let her do all of the talking herself.

"Okay, as we agreed on Monday, let's hold a meeting to discuss what we've learned."

"Wow, you're really into this," Junpei commented.

"Of course! I got lots of good info. It turns out no angry ghost was involved," Yukari said.

"Oh, so THAT'S what's important, huh?"

"Would you be quiet? It was something you said that let me realize what's _really_ going on here, anyways," Yukari spat. "When I started looking into the victims, I didn't see any connection at first. They were all in different classes, and didn't seem to be connected, aside from sharing a rather distinct sense of fashion."

"Freaking ganguro chicks."

"However, they did have one thing in common. What was it?"

"What is this, a quiz show? Do _you_ know, Hamuko-chan?" Junpei asked. Hamuko nodded.

"They all hung out together after school in the bad part of town," Hamuko said. "Y'know, the area behind Port Island Station."

"Exactly. I looked into things a bit more, and while it took me a while to work the info out of anyone, it turns out that they _all_ had been seen hanging around Fuuka in the days before she disappeared. And apparently, the little leader of their group was a Natsuki Moriyama," Yukari said.

"Yeah, I saw her bullying Fuuka-chan on the day scores went out!" Junpei said. Hamuko blinked and looked toward him.

"Why didn't you stop them?"

"W-Well, y'know… it wasn't my business. Besides, Minato had it pretty well handled."

Hamuko frowned. There was Minato's involvement with Fuuka again. She still didn't feel like this had just been a normal date thing. What was going on there?

"Something happened with Moriyama's group that's causing all of these Apathy Syndrome cases, and I bet you it's related to whatever happened to Minato and Fuuka last week," Yukari stated. "So I'm proposing a bit of field work. Let's go to where they usually meet after school, track down Moriyama, and make her squeal."

"W-W-W-Wait a minute, there is no way I'm going there!" Junpei objected.

"Why not? You want to find out where Minato went, right?"

"Well, _yeah_ , but that place is bad news."

"Oh come on, Junpei, don't be a sissy. You'll come, right Hamuko?"

Hamuko frowned. She'd rather not have to deal with a bunch of punks with quite likely bats and knives. At the same time, she did want to find out exactly what had happened to Minato and Fuuka, and how it connected to the recent cases. "Yeah, I'll go."

"Sweet, then let's go tomorrow night."

"This is still a _really_ bad idea."

* * *

Minato pulled himself up the stairs onto the next floor. His uniform was a wreck, and he was covered in various injuries to go along with his minor concussion. This tower went on forever… this floor seemed brighter than any of the others, though. He ran into the middle of the room and fell against the wall with a sense of relief when he saw the windows. "Finally, the safe floor."

Fuuka walked up behind Minato with a slight frown and sat down next to him. "You look exhausted, Arisato-san…"

"I am exhausted. Completely exhausted. And that damn teleporter isn't working, so we can't go anywhere." He pointed to the broken device on the other side of the room. Fuuka looked up at the moon visible through the window.

"The moon wasn't that full when we came in here, was it?"

Minato shook his head. "Every hour we spend in here equals a day outside. And because something is _damn_ determined to keep things going the same way they did before, we're going to be stuck in here until the full moon."

Fuuka looked toward Minato with a bewildered expression. "U-Um, Arisato-san…? I'm sure we'll be fine, we just have to keep looking for another way out… I don't want to think of what will happen if we don't…"

"We'll be just _fine._ When that moon turns full, Hamuko, Junpei, and Akihiko will all come rushing into Tartarus to rescue us, and after they find us those two giant Shadows will show up and try to kill Yukari and Mitsuru, but we'll kick their ass all the same, and just for good measure, you'll save Natsuki's life and the two of you will become best friends forever."

"A-Arisato-san?"

Minato pulled his legs close to his body and buried his head in his knees. "And my choices are letting those Shadows live and everyone with Apathy Syndrome keeps their Apathy Syndrome, or killing them and having people recover, which ironically enough brings us one step closer to death. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

Minato felt a hand grasp his shoulder and he lifted his head to look at Fuuka. He sighed and leaned back against the wall.

"You don't even know what I'm talking about… 'Course you don't, I'm the only one who knows…" He gave a pained chuckle. "Sorry… I shouldn't dump all of this on you."

"Um… all of that stuff you were saying before… what was that about?" Fuuka asked nervously. Minato looked up at the moon. It had just changed to a full moon, shining bright in the sky.

"Don't worry about it."

"No, really, you don't have to…"

"If I don't do my job right, it won't matter to you anyways."

"What is your job?" Fuuka asked quietly.

"…I haven't quite figured that out yet," Minato admitted. "To change everything, I guess."

"…I wish you good luck then," Fuuka said with a smile. Minato gave a nervous laugh, and nearly fell asleep against the wall when Fuuka stood up in surprise.

"Who are you? Are you human?"she called. The floor opened up, and Hamuko, Akihiko, and Junpei ran out of the stairwell and toward the three of them. They were all carrying weapons, and in various states of injury. Fuuka gasped, and looked back toward Minato with a somewhat stunned look on her face.

"Holy shit, you're alive! Awesome!" Junpei called out. Hamuko crouched down in front of Minato to get a better look at him. She gave a pitying frown at his injuries.

"What happened to you?"

"Fuuka couldn't steer us away from all of the Shadows…" Minato said with a bit of a wince. "So I took out a bunch on my own."

"Steer you away?" Akihiko asked. Fuuka jumped and stood up. She gave a small nod.

"Um… I could sort of tell where the strange creatures were… I think Arisato-san called them Shadows…"

Junpei looked toward Fuuka in confusion. "Whaddaya mean? Are you psychic?"

"She has the same power as Mitsuru… Maybe even stronger, since Mitsuru's Persona is more battle oriented."

"Can we stop sitting around and talking?" Minato yelled. He pushed himself to his feet. "We need to get out of here right now! Mitsuru and Yukari are about to be attacked by a strong Shadow and if we don't go help save them, they're going to die!"

"How do you—" The entire tower began to shake. Akihiko raised his hand up to his earpiece and pressed a button on it.

"Mitsuru, are you there?" His expression became more panicked. "Mitsuru, can you hear me?! Come in!"

He removed his hand from his earpiece and swore. Fuuka put a hand on her chest, and she had a somewhat distant expression.

"What is this thing…? It's much bigger than the others and… attacking someone…"

"Dammit!" Akihiko yelled. "Hamuko, give me a Traesto Gem!"

"Wh-What's going on?"

"This is why I said we needed to hurry! Now go!" Minato yelled. Hamuko pulled a gem out of her pack and handed it to Akihiko. He crushed the gem in his hands, and the five of them disappeared from the floor. They reappeared at the foot of the stairs in the lobby. Yukari lay on the ground near them, and two Shadows stood at the end of the room the Velvet Room door usually stood. One resembled an obese woman, the other, a very tall man. The tall one held Mitsuru in its hand.

"There's two of them!? Mitsuru!" Akihiko called out to Mitsuru. She turned her head slightly to look at Akihiko. Emperor, the taller of the two shadows, squeezed Mitsuru's body painfully.

And then, just because the situation needed to get that much worse, Natsuki walked in. She was walking incredibly slowly, and there was a very empty look in her eyes. She looked up toward Fuuka.

"F-Fuuka…"

She stumbled over to Fuuka and fell to her knees by her.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" Akihiko yelled.

"Akihiko, give Fuuka an evoker!" Minato yelled.

"They're not weapons—"

"She knows how to use one! Don't argue with me!" Minato ordered. Akihiko gave Minato a very strange, almost defiant look before throwing an Evoker to Fuuka. It skidded to her feet, and she bent down and picked it up. Empress ran toward Fuuka, and the green haired girl placed the gun against her forehead. Natsuki screamed. Just before Empress could strike, she pulled the trigger. Glass shards flew out from Fuuka's head and formed into a Persona, its body mostly taken up by a large glass globe filled with water. The Persona formed around both Fuuka and Natsuki, protecting them from Empress' strike. The Shadow fell against Emperor, causing Mitsuru to fall from Emperor's hand.

Minato ran up to the Shadows, and they jerked their heads toward him. Once again, they gave him a look of _recognition._ He couldn't dwell on that right now, though.

"Hey! Look at me, easy target!" Minato yelled.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Junpei yelled. Emperor looked between Minato and Hamuko, and finally began to walk up to Minato, sword in hand. Minato gave a taunting laugh and ran out of the doors of Tartarus, Emperor following after. Every part of his body ached, and he got the very distinct feeling that this was just a bad idea in general, but at the same time it felt like the right thing to do.

Emperor screeched and brought its sword down at Minato. He sidestepped out of the way of the blade, causing it to lodge in the ground. Minato laughed again.

"Yeah, that's right, keep following me… until the Dark Hour ends," Minato said. "Because once it ends, you'll be gone, won't you? At the very least, you can't show up again until the next full moon, right?"

Minato pulled out his Evoker. He just had to keep this shadow distracted until the end of the Dark Hour. He'd let Hamuko deal with Empress. If he could just keep this one Shadow from dying... Emperor glanced up at the sky. Just from that nervous look, Minato was sure that the Dark Hour was a lot closer to ending than he thought. He put his Evoker to his head and pulled the trigger, summoning Orpheus.

"Now, if I remember right, this should hurt a lot," Minato said with a smirk. Orpheus held its hands out, and an Agilao flew at Emperor, knocking it to the ground. The Shadow gave a screech and clutched at the wound. Minato took a few steps back, giving the Shadow room to stand up again. His screeched angrily and swung its blade at Minato. As it did so, Minato could see several people coming out of Tartarus behind Emperor. Just as the blade was inches from Minato's face, the Shadow dissolved into black mist and faded away. Only a second after it faded away, the green glow faded from the sky and Tartarus disappeared.

Minato gave a sigh of relief and waved to the approaching group. Akihiko was carrying Fuuka, while Junpei was leading a very stunned looking Natsuki out. Hamuko ran up to Minato and slapped him.

"That was incredibly reckless," Hamuko yelled. "What were you thinking?!"

"I wasn't," Minato admitted.

"Where did the Shadow go?" Yukari asked. Minato shrugged.

"Somewhere other than here, hopefully," Minato said. "I don't think we'll need to worry about it for a while now."

At least, that was what he hoped. He suddenly felt really dizzy. Now why would that be—oh right. Concussion. He kept forgetting about that. Minato turned toward Mitsuru.

"Mitsuru-san? Would you mind taking me to the hospital with Fuuka? I think I'm about to pass out."

About five seconds later, Minato fell unconscious for what was probably the third time since he'd entered Tartarus ten days ago. There was one bright side to this whole endeavor, though. He may not have managed to protect Fuuka, but he had been able to prevent an Arcana Shadow from being killed… and that was what counted.


	13. A Single Classified Document

Nov. 3 1999

-CLASSIFIED-

Attempted Extermination of Arcana Death

ANTI-SHADOW SUPPRESION WEAPONS DEPLOYED: Z35-017 "Ancile", Z35-022 "Talaria", Z35-025 "Argo", Z35-029 "Caduceus", Z35-031 "Aigis"

RETRIEVED: Black box of "Argo", flight mechanism of "Talaria", Persona Summoning Mechanism of "Ancile", entire "Aigis".

NOTE: "Aigis" appears to have suffered a memory wipe. Reinstalling personality files may be prudent if it is to be used again.

AS OF DEC. 29TH: Memory has not been wiped, but rather encrypted. All attempts to hack encrypted files have ended in failure. Large sections of "Aigis" will need to be repaired before any attempts at coercing it into unencrypting its memories can be attempted.

* * *

BLACK BOX RECORD OF "ARGO":

Video footage was retrieved from the remains of the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon "Argo" and remain the only current record of the events of the Moonlight Bridge incident as the deployed androids were the only devices functional during the space of time that manifested at midnight. The video retrieved ends before "Aigis" attempts to challenge Arcana Death. It is assumed that "Aigis" managed to destroy Arcana Death.

Footage is in monochrome green, taking place during the Dark Hour. By the time the footage begins, several coffins on the bridge can be visible. Many have been cut in half, presumably by Arcana Death. Four civilians can be spotted during the footage outside of their coffins. The reason for this is unknown at the time.

Footage begins with the five deployed Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons attempting to challenge Arcana Death directly. The Shadow appears to have a constant force shield around its body, preventing conventional weapons from harming it. "Talaria" is destroyed while using its experimental flight device to try approaching Arcana Death from the air.

After "Talaria" is destroyed, "Ancile" attempts to make a direct attack on Arcana Death with its Palladium Persona. The Persona is able to break through Arcana Death's shield with support from "Caduceus'" Asclepius Persona. "Caduceus" is subsequently destroyed by a highly destructive attack from Arcana Death. The attack appears on the video as several pillars of energy falling from the sky. These pillars of energy are believed to be responsible for the vast majority of the deaths, as they caused large damage to the Moonlight Bridge.

Following "Caduceus'" destruction, "Aigis", "Ancile", and "Argo" all attempt to attack Arcana Death using their Personae. Approx. 30 seconds after the three attempt to attack Arcana Death, the Shadow turns its attention toward a child on the bridge. One of the blades Arcana Death carries flies toward the child. Another human, assumed to be the child's mother, pushes the child out of the path of the attack, but is struck by the blade and receives a large wound across her back.

Arcana Death shoots a large bolt of electricity from its body at "Ancile", knocking "Ancile" offline. There is then a large explosion at "Ancile's" location, vaporizing the ASW before it can come back online. "Aigis" activates her Orgia Mode and moves to attack Arcana Death just as another bolt of electricity strikes "Argo" and knocks it offline, ending the video recording.

* * *

AFTERMATH: Because the incident involved so many civilians, a large cover-up operation must be implemented. Measures should be taken to make the Moonlight Bridge incident appear completely unrelated to the Gekkoukan Labs incident.

Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon Z35-031 "Aigis" should be returned to the Yakushima lab for repairs. The remains from the other four ASWs deployed are to be cataloged and subsequently disposed of.


	14. How To Handle A Shadow

Minato walked down the halls of the hospital. He'd never been down to this room before, and he probably wasn't even supposed to be here, but he wanted to speak with Fuuka before Mitsuru and Akihiko got a chance to. After passing out in front of Tartarus, he'd been taken to the hospital, where they'd examined him. It turned out his concussion wasn't quite as severe as they'd initially thought, so he'd been released after a couple day's rest with just a bandage around his forehead to show the injury. He didn't want to leave quite yet, though. He had some explaining to do, especially after all the stuff he'd spouted off in the middle of Tartarus. He must have been either delirious or frustrated, with what he'd just flat out told Fuuka. Probably both.

He stopped in front of a door labeled "2204" and knocked on it with the back of his hand. A soft "Come in!" called from inside. Minato turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. Fuuka was sitting in the bed by the window, a basket of fruit on the table next to her and a laptop on her lap. Her parents must have come by earlier. She turned look at Minato.

"Hey," Minato said. He pulled a chair off of a stack by the wall and placed it next to Fuuka's bed. He sat down in it and put his hands in his pockets. Fuuka's eyes moved to the bandage around his forehead.

"Are you alright?"

"Just a mild concussion. I'll be fine."

"Oh… well, I'm glad you came to see me." Fuuka gained a soft smile. She watched him for a few more moments, as if expecting him to say something else. When he didn't, she went back to typing something on her computer. Tempted as Minato was to look over her shoulder at the screen, he decided not to for the sake of politeness.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you," Minato spoke up after a few more moments. Fuuka looked back up at him.

"Arisato-san, you knew Moriyama-san and her friends were going to lock me in the school, didn't you? That's why you helped me when she was teasing me when exams came out, and why you invited me on that date before, isn't it?"

Minato nodded. Now she was asking the important questions. That was part of why he'd come here. Fuuka needed an explanation and he was the only one who could give it. "That was part of it."

"Part?"

"I didn't want to stand there and let them bully you," Minato admitted.

"What else did you know? You mentioned that the others were going to come save us… and that if those Shadows died we'd all die," Fuuka said, her voice grave. Minato looked away. At this rate, he was going to have to tell Fuuka everything. Well, this was his own damn fault, really. He should have expected it.

"Those giant Shadows are called Arcana Shadows. The ones we fought were of the Arcana Emperor and Empress. They're the ones responsible for the Apathy Syndrome cases lately," Minato said. He nervously shifted his feet. "The others in SEES think – or at least will think – that killing them will cause the Dark Hour to go away. It won't. All it will do is unleash something worse."

Fuuka didn't say anything else. She looked down at the sheets and laptop and frowned. Minato couldn't quite read what she was thinking from her expression. After a few seconds, she looked back up at him.

"How did you know what was going to happen?"

He lightly chuckled. "I don't think I'm quite ready to tell you that yet."

Fuuka made a small sound, which to Minato sounded like she understood what he said. He had to wonder what was going through her head right now. Did she think he was crazy? Probably. "I'm telling the truth, though. And you're the first person I've told, so—"

"I don't think you're lying," Fuuka said with a smile. "Whatever your reasons are for telling me, I think you're telling the truth. But what can I do? Why tell me and no one else?"

"Mitsuru and Akihiko will be coming to visit you soon. They're probably going to explain as much as they can about Shadows and your Persona to you, and eventually, once you're well enough to leave, they're going to ask you to join SEES. And well… if you join, you'd be another person that can help me with the Shadows. I wouldn't be the only one trying to stop them from being killed."

"Alright. I'll do it."

Minato hadn't expected the immediate answer. She hadn't even thought it over for very long before making her decision. "A-Are you sure? I mean—"

"W-Well... you all saved me back there. It's the best way I can think of to thank you."

"You're really great, Fuuka," Minato said. "Really… and I'm sorry about how I acted to you before, when I helped you with those girls. I think I was out of line with my flirting."

"Oh, that's fine…" Fuuka said with a smile. "I'm okay with being just friends. You're a really nice guy, Arisato-san."

Minato couldn't think of a way to respond to that that wouldn't make this conversation cheesier than it already was, so he just nodded and looked toward the fruit basket. It was only now that he was realizing just how hungry he was. "Do you mind if I…"

"Go ahead," Fuuka said. Minato reached into the basket and pulled out an apple. A small card Minato hadn't noticed before slipped from the top of the pile of fruit into the space created by the apple's removal. He picked the note up and flipped it open. The handwriting had that kind of loose, loopy style girls' handwriting often had. It read, "Get well soon, okay?", with no signature of any kind. Fuuka must have seen Minato's questioning look, because she then looked up and said, "Oh, Moriyama-san brought that up earlier. She brought me her notes and all the work I've missed over the past couple of days, too, so I've been working on that whenever I have free time."

Minato didn't respond. So even though he'd told her what was going to happen with Natsuki, she was okay with that?

"I didn't let my knowledge of the future stop me from having friends, Arisato-san. You shouldn't either."

Minato blinked and looked up from the card. He realized then that he'd been staring at it, and quickly placed it back in the bowl. "What? No, that wasn't what I was thinking about at all. Don't be silly."

Fuuka giggled, and Minato couldn't help but smile at that. Somehow he just felt a lot more hopeful about this situation… even if it was still mostly terrible.

* * *

"You've prevailed yet again."

Hamuko pulled her head up from the covers, and was rather unsurprised to see that a boy was sitting on the end of her bed. He wasn't looking at her as he spoke.

"But, it's funny... It doesn't seem so certain, considering the vast potential within you. As a matter of fact, your power seems to have changed quite a bit." He turned toward Hamuko, his face a nervous frown. "Hey, if you don't mind, can I be your friend? I'm very curious about you... Is that okay?"

Creepy boy in her head who only appeared during the dark hour and called her his "dearest". There was a lot of ways this could go wrong. But he seemed nice enough, so Hamuko said, "Sure, what's your name?"

The boy lifted a hand up to his mouth, like he was shocked, before pulling it down to his chest and turning away. "Name…? Oh, I see. I need a name. Then my name is… Pharos. You may call me that if you wish."

"Pharos." Hamuko rolled the name over her tongue. Not a name she'd heard before, yet it somehow felt quite fitting. Before she could say anything else, Pharos disappeared, only to reappear standing next to it.

"It's getting late, so I'll go now. I'm already looking forward to our next meeting… my dearest."

And then he was gone, leaving Hamuko alone in the dark room.

* * *

Fuuka had joined the group a few days ago. No one was particularly surprised by her decision, though Yukari had clearly been annoyed by it. On the way to school one morning, Hamuko had been stopped by her.

"What do you think about Mitsuru-senpai?"

"Not really my type," Hamuko answered automatically. Yukari flushed red at the comment, before continuing and saying, "That's not what I meant. Don't you think she sort of pushed Fuuka into joining? I know it's nice to have her around, especially in battle, but it just feels wrong… Minato's been rubbing me oddly lately too."

"They have been spending a lot of time together," Hamuko commented. It didn't seem likely that they were dating, either. Minato was still too obviously flirty with Fuuka, so he probably wasn't serious about an actual relationship with her.

But Yukari had been right in how much of a huge help Fuuka was. Thanks to Fuuka's scanning abilities, they had been making much more progress into Tartarus than before. She was much quicker at detecting enemy weaknesses than Mitsuru had been, and she'd been able to guess the strategies of some foes beforehand, too. It had been a very long time since an invisible Shadow had managed to ambush them. With Fuuka on a support position, Mitsuru had joined the front lines, and proved herself to be a rather capable fighter in her own right.

Minato was once again out of the fight, due to concerns about his injuries. This hadn't stopped him from fighting, as smaller shadows were still appearing on the bottom floor while the others rested. Ikutsuki had theorized that they were trying to sneak out of the tower and cause more Apathy Syndrome cases, but Hamuko didn't think that was the case. It always felt more like they were targeting people who were left behind.

Worst of all, people were wandering into Tartarus and getting stuck in there. Luckily, Theodore had been calling Hamuko whenever someone wandered in, and Fuuka could generally detect where someone was on a floor, so it hadn't been too hard to get people out.

Things hadn't gotten any easier on the school front, either, because there was apparently a cold going around with the teachers, and every time someone was out, Mr. Edogawa had to fill in.

"Long, long ago, at the dawn of civilization, man created primitive religions. Animism, totemism, and shamanism all fall into this category. You learned them in world history, right? That last one, shamanism, is important to the origins of magic. Shamans would fall into a trance state and act as the intermediary between the worlds, but... It counts as "magic," where humans can have the power of gods and spirits in their own hands. This shaman-style magical tradition would later be…"

"What the hell's wrong with this school? He's a complete nutcase…" Junpei whispered.

"I can hear you, Iori! Perhaps I should give you a little test on the material… Get it wrong, and your afterlife won't be pleasant. Pallas aron azinomas..." Junpei gulped and got to his feet. "What formed the origins of magic?"

"Er… I think…" Junpei stuttered. "Totemism?"

"Wrong. Enjoy your next life as a chupacabra." Edogawa's mouth thinned before returning to his usual bored expression and continuing to drone on. "Now then, paganism and Christianity have a tighter connection to one another than you'd think. As the Roman Empire grew stronger, so did the population of Christians in the empire. At first, each religion carried on its own worship separately, but..."

And just to make things better, Hamuko had been forcibly recruited to work for the library council by Ms. Toriumi. It wasn't a particularly difficult job, and the other committee member, an older girl named Saori Hasegawa, was quite nice, but together with all of her schoolwork, volleyball practice, and Tartarus visits, she was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed.

After a week of this, Hamuko was beginning to feel rather exhausted. Her muscles ached every time she moved and she had a hard time keeping herself awake in class, much less during club activities. Upon coming back to the dorm that night, she found herself collapsing onto the couch.

"Okay… no more Tartarus visits for a while… I'm beat."

Junpei was walking toward the door, but stopped just before leaving. "No kidding! You've been working us like dogs!"

"Like you can talk," Yukari said. "When's the last time you showed up for a club?"

"Er… well, that's different—"

"Yeah, I thought so. Maybe we should send you up the tower on your own?"

"Hey, that's not funny!" Junpei groaned. "I'm gonna go to the store… see ya." He walked out the door, still mumbling to himself about how "unfair" something was. Mitsuru chuckled.

"Perhaps I should find some duty with student council for Iori," she said.

"Yeah, could always use a new gofer," Minato said to himself. He and Fuuka were sitting at the table together, looking at her laptop. Hamuko didn't bother them; this was pretty much what those two always did most night.

"You're rather quick, Arisato. Would you like to be runner for us?"

"Absolutely not."

Akihiko turned toward Hamuko. "By the way, the chairman's coming by tomorrow, so don't make any plans for after school."

"Sure, no problem," Hamuko said. She looked over toward Minato, and noticed that he'd gained that expression again, the one he always got when he was lying to her.

* * *

Minato left class immediately after the bell rang. He didn't stay around school much these days, and during those days of the week when Hamuko was able to make time to visit Maiko, she usually spotted him at the shrine, usually with an empty Tupperware in hand. He was probably there right now so he could skip that meeting they were supposed to go to. It was his decision if he was going to skip it because of his grudge against Ikutsuki, and she was tired of arguing with him, so she didn't stop him this time.

When she made it back to the dorm, she spotted Minato walking alongside a dog. She did a double take. That was definitely Minato… and that was definitely a dog walking alongside him.

"Oh, Koro-chan!"

Yukari and Fuuka both came running up, and the dog sat down and gave a bark. Yukari scratched him behind his ears, causing his tail to whip happily. He was very fluffy. It was rather hard for Hamuko to resist the urge to run her hands through his fur.

"I didn't know you were such good friends with Koro-chan, Minato-san," Fuuka said.

"'Koro-chan?'" Hamuko asked.

"His name's Koromaru. He lives at the shrine," Minato said with a shrug. "He doesn't have an owner anymore, so I've been feeding him and going on walks with him."

"What do you mean?" Hamuko's smile faded. There was never any good reason for a dog to not have an owner anymore. Minato tapped the side of his chin.

"About… six months ago, I think, the priest who ran that shrine got hit by a car while walking him. Ever since then Koromaru's been sitting by the accident site and going on walks by himself."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that…" Yukari said. She fluffed up the fur on Koromaru's face. "Aww, you're such a loyal dog! Good boy!"

"The way you talk about him, it sounds like you're really good friends already," Hamuko said happily. Minato gave another vague shrug. Without warning, the dog stood up and started down the sidewalk once more.

"There he goes," Minato said. He walked up the steps into the dorm.

The meeting with Ikutsuki passed rather quickly, with the information he provided being both really basic and really important. As it turned out, there were twelve of those large Shadows, each of them corresponding to the same twelve characteristics they'd divided the smaller Shadows into. The four they'd faced so far were Magician, Priestess, Emperor, and Empress.

"This means the next Shadow would be Hierophant," Minato said, piping up halfway through the meeting. Ikutsuki nodded and said, "That's correct. Very good, Minato!"

Since they'd already determined that the Shadows appeared on every full moon, Hamuko had a very good idea of what was to happen soon. At least there were only nine left, though no one was sure what to do about Emperor. All they could do was sit and wait for something else to happen.

* * *

Green light trickled through the gaps between the buildings, illuminating the alley and the crystalline coffins within. Three figures walked down the path. The man at the head of the group was shirtless, and his arms were covered in tattoos. He was followed by a shorter, blue haired teenager with glasses and a red haired girl in a Lolita dress. They stopped just before reaching a crowd of the coffins. The blue-haired man nodded toward the girl in the dress, and she began to take steps forward. Suddenly, she stopped, and pointed toward a single coffin at the far end of the alley.

"That's our guy… Time to wake up," the blue-haired man said. He flicked his index and middle fingers up, and the air changed. The coffin melted away, revealing a very disoriented person.

"…Huh…?" The teenager looked around. "How the heck did I—" His gaze fixed on a single coffin, and he took several panicked steps away from it. "What the hell is this!"

It was then that the three figures began to walk toward the teenager.

"Good evening," Takaya said. The teenager whirled toward him, his eyes wide with terror. "Are you surprised? Truth be told, we all visit this world every night."

"Wh-What are you saying? Who the hell are you?"

"Didn't mommy teach you any manners? You haven't introduced yourself…" The blue-haired man, Jin, dug a paper out from his suitcase and held it out to the teenager. "Take a look. Name, age, address, etc… This is you, right?"

"Wha-! Where did you get this!"

Jin stuffed the paper into his pocket. "Somebody's got a grudge against you, and they asked us to get revenge."

The teenager was taking steps away from the three now, looking around, trying to find a place to run. The girl in the Lolita dress, Chidori, began to reach for something tied to the back of her skirt. At a look from Takaya, she stopped.

"Revenge! What kinda bullshit is this! Who put you up to this!"

"Can't tell ya. We're professionals."

"'Professionals'…? Oh shit… you mean, the rumors on the net are true!"

He took more and more steps away. Takaya sighed and pulled out his revolver.

"Hey… W-Wait… I haven't done anything! Why me! What'd I do!" the teenager squealed.

"That is not our concern. Your notion of right and wrong is irrelevant. My client's wishes are all that matter. People hear what they choose to hear, and believe what they want to believe," Takaway said. He raised his gun up toward the teenager's body.

"N-No… Stay away… _Get away from me!"_ The teenager finally bolted toward another alley.

An excited grin spread across Takaya's face. "You squeal most magnificently! Such raw emotion!" He fired his gun, and the teenager slumped to the ground, wheezing for breath.

"He's not dead…" Chidori said.

"Doesn't matter…" Jin said. "We've held up our end of the bargain. Besides, tomorrow this will seem like some random crime."

"If there's nothing else… I'm feeling rather—"

"Someone's coming," Chidori said sharply. The two men turned toward the alley they had entered the backstreets through. Takaya silently loaded another bullet into his revolver, while Jin opened his case and reached into it. A man was walking down the alley. He stopped in a beam of moonlight so that he could be seen, and held his hands up.

"This certainly wasn't the greeting I expected," Ikutsuki said with a chuckle.

"Ah… Ikutsuki-san… our _welcome_ benefactor," Takaya said amicably. Jin wasn't so ready to welcome him.

"What the hell do you want, old man?" Jin spat.

"Now, now… there's no reason to be like that. Not when I have a task for you." Ikutsuki lowered his hands.

"We ain't interested, so get the—"

"Quiet, Jin," Takaya stated, and his tone left no room for argument. The blue-haired man opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Let him talk."

The man opened his mouth to talk, and then looked over Takaya's shoulder. "Erm… I'd rather not have any witnesses, if you know what I mean." Takaya turned and fired, and the body at the end of the alley fell still.

"Thank you… now, if you'll let me continue…" Ikutsuki cleared his throat. "There is a shadow loose in Iwatodai that I need exterminated. I believe you are familiar with the large Shadows that have been appearing on every full moon?"

"Indeed I am. But I thought that you already commanded a group of children who could destroy these particular shadows? Why come to us failed experiments?" Takaya stared into Ikutsuki's eyes, and then chuckled. "Unless… you do not want them to know about this?"

Ikutsuki ignored Takaya's comments and handed a pack of papers to Jin. "This is all the information I have gathered on the particular Shadow, including where it is known to be found."

"And why should we even bother doing this for you?"

A cruel smirk spread across Ikutsuki's face. "If this Shadow were allowed to run amok, it would only be a matter of time before some inquiries were made into my division at Kirijo. And I'm sure that the current CEO of Kirijo would not be pleased to find out that we were still producing Persona suppressants."

"You wouldn't—"

Ikutsuki pulled a pocketwatch from his coat. "Ah! It's nearly time for the Dark Hour to end. I should be getting home. Well, I do hope this chat has been illuminating for you." He walked away, chuckling to himself at some joke only he knew. It was only once he was gone that Chidori spoke up.

"I don't trust him."

"He's got us walking in the palm of his hand… what the hell is he playing at?" Jin swore under his breath. "At this rate, we won't have any choice but to follow him."

"No," Takaya stated. "We have enough of the pills saved up to sustain us for some time… We won't need to follow his request quite yet."

"Then what do you want to do, Takaya?"

"I believe that it is time we start paying more attention to his little pets." Takaya jerked his head toward the sky. "The hour grows late. We should leave."

The other two nodded, and they walked out of the alley together.

* * *

There were only eight days until the full moon, and Hamuko was beginning to feel the pressure. Apathy Syndrome cases were on the rise, with all of the recent victims being couples found in the area around Shirokawa Boulevard. Having never been down that way, Hamuko had found herself asking Junpei just what was down that way. It must have been something _really_ embarrassing, because his face turned red and he suddenly mumbled something about needing to go do his homework before heading upstairs.

On Hamuko's way up to her room that night, Yukari passed by her and walked up toward the meeting room.

"What's up?" Hamuko asked when she was halfway up the other staircase.

"I think I left some stuff up there when we had that last meeting," Yukari said. She walked up the staircase. Hamuko didn't think much of it until she realized that fifteen minutes had passed and Yukari still wasn't back down yet. Was she having trouble finding whatever she was missing? She walked upstairs to the command room and put her hand on the doorknob, only to pull it away when she heard voices through the door.

"…Doesn't it seem suspicious to you? From what I've heard, this isn't the first time Shadows have appeared..."

"Wait, are you saying...?"

"I don't know. But, I wonder... And I'm not trying to make trouble, but... Mitsuru-senpai gets kinda weird whenever someone asks questions about Tartarus."

"Does she...?"

"I just wanna know what happened back then. If it doesn't have anything to do with the Shadows, then fine."

Hamuko pushed the door open at that moment. "I'm curious too. This whole thing stinks."

Yukari turned toward the door, a not too pleased expression on her face. "H-Hey! How long were you listening?"

"Long enough." She stepped out of the doorway and closed the door behind her. "I've done some looking around too. Doesn't it seem weird how everything suddenly went to crap about ten years ago? That's when Tartarus and the Dark Hour appeared… but that's also when Yukari's dad and my parents died too. And it was all in this city."

"Wait a minute… Your parents…" It was like a lightbulb went off in Yukari's head. "Back at the hospital, when Minato-kun woke up. He mentioned that he thought they were related too!"

"He knows something. He knew about this Persona stuff from the beginning; I know he did. And he's always got his own agenda…"

Fuuka shifted uncomfortably. "I think he means well… but I'll agree that there's something odd about how much he knows. He told me a lot of things back at the hospital that Ikutsuki-san didn't tell us until weeks later," she said.

"Like what?" Hamuko asked, intrigued.

"Well… he told me about how the Shadows follow the Arcana and that there's twelve of them… but he also said that if they all die, something much worse would be unleashed…" She bit her lip after she finished talking.

"He said that?" This was disturbing news. But it definitely explained Minato's behavior lately. No wonder he'd been acting on his own so much on the full moons. "Wait. That's why he let Emperor run off last full moon! So we wouldn't kill it!"

"Yeah, that makes sense…" Yukari clenched her hands into fists, but quickly relaxed. "We shouldn't jump to any conclusions, though. Let's do the research first, and then ask the hard questions. We're not letting them weasel out of any of this."

* * *

It wasn't much longer until the next full moon operation, and everyone was tense. The Apathy Syndrome cases were mounting higher and higher, and Hamuko was sure that the grossly inflated numbers had to do with Emperor's escape a month previous. She'd been spending the past few days helping with Yukari and Fuuka's research. Minato had been hanging around fairly often, and Hamuko was sure he was trying to figure out what they were up to.

Hamuko did a wide scan of the mall. Crowded as ever, with no one paying the slightest bit of attention to the empty hall under Mandragora. Their eyes just slid over the space, moving smoothly from the antiques store on the right to the spa on the other side of the staircase. Hamuko walked down the hall to the door at the end. She pulled a key from her skirt pocket and placed it in the lock, where it stuck. She pulled on it a couple times, but it would not turn. She tugged the key free of the lock and bent down to examine the keyhole, and then held her own key up to compare. The grooves on the door's keyhole and the grooves on her key did not match.

Through the keyhole, she could hear muffled voices. Curious, Hamuko pressed her ear up against the door and listened.

"A risky proposal," a voice that sounded like Igor's said. "While feasible, the burden such an action would place on your soul will restrict you immensely."

"I held Death within me for ten years," Minato answered. "A smaller shadow like this should be nothing in comparison."

 _Death?_ Hamuko felt her heart leap at the word. She'd never heard the term before, and yet it excited her in a way she couldn't explain.

"Perhaps so. But your spirit is weak now, and you lack the bonds that once strengthened your hold. Could your spirit handle the strain of not one, but two Shadows upon your soul…?"

There was a brief pause before Minato answered. "It's only a temporary solution. Once I find something more permanent, I'll let it go."

"Whatever consequence results from your actions is your responsibility alone. You know your time limit and what shall happen in the future."

A chair scraped across carpet, followed by muffled steps getting louder and louder as they approached the door. Hamuko backed away from the door, and it swung open, Minato standing in the doorway. His eyes widened slightly upon seeing her, before he said, "You can go in now. I'm done." He stepped out of the doorway and closed the door behind him. The sound of whirring machinery from the doorknob told Hamuko that the lock had returned to normal. Minato began to walk out of the alley, but just as he passed her, Hamuko seized his arm.

"What were you and Igor talking about?" Minato stared at her with a bewildered look, so she continued. "It's got something to do with what you've been doing over the past couple of months, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Minato said.

"But you can't talk about it, can you?"

"Some people wouldn't exactly approve."

Minato's wording had been vague, but Hamuko could guess who he meant. While Minato's loose trigger antics had been grating on everyone's nerves, the two people in SEES he would definitely not want people knowing about this were Mitsuru and Ikutsuki.

"So, are you going to interrogate me again, or can I go?" he asked. Hamuko released his arm.

"You and Igor are planning to seal one of those Shadows away? Why?" Minato did not show any sign of surprise. Almost as if he expected her to figure this out.

"Why aren't you telling me anything?" Hamuko yelled, rage rising in her chest. "I thought we agreed that we weren't going to hide things from each other anymore?"

"I'm doing this for _your_ sake!" Minato said. He shoved past Hamuko and stormed out of the alley without another word.

"Hey, wait!" She ran after him, but he'd already disappeared into the crowd. She punched the alley wall. He was trying to stop all of the Arcana Shadows from being killed so that something wouldn't happen to her. That had to be it, that was what Fuuka had meant. But why? Why was he going through such lengths to protect her, and only her? With these questions rolling through her mind, Hamuko left Pawlownia Mall in pursuit of Minato.


	15. Master of Lovers

Though Hamuko had tried her best to catch up with him after he ran off, Minato was nowhere to be seen. When she finally gave up and returned to the dorm, she found him in the lobby, sitting there chatting with the rest of SEES. As much as Hamuko wanted to confront him then and there, she knew she couldn't; there would just be too many awkward questions. Eventually she went up to her room and went to bed.

She sat awake, unable to fall asleep even though she knew the Dark Hour was coming. Minato was trying to protect her from something, but he refused to tell her what. She rolled over again, trying to get comfortable.

 _I'm not some princess in a tower_ , Hamuko thought angrily. She was sick of him treating her like a victim and doing all of this without her consent. She didn't even _know_ what he was trying to protect her from. She continued to toss and turn in her bed until the room lit with the unnatural green light of the Dark Hour.

"Hi."

Hamuko rolled over and covered her ear with a pillow. Looked like that time had come around again.

"Can you guess what I'm going to tell you?"

"We're all going to die in a week?" Hamuko suggested from under her pillow.

"That's morbid." He bounced on the end of the bed. "Your bed is rather springy. This room must have been unoccupied before you came here."

Hamuko sat up so she could see Pharos. The boy was staring at her, a smile on his face. "Shouldn't you just be giving me a warning and then leaving?" she asked.

"Is that what you want?" His expression fell, and Hamuko waved her hands frantically.

"No, no! You can stay! You just usually don't stay for this long. Normally you say your piece and go," she said.

"Ah. To be honest, I don't know what to talk about. The only things I see are what you see during this time. I'm sure that you will quickly become bored if I only speak of your exploits in the Tower of Demise." Pharos kicked his legs a couple times in an amusingly childlike manner.

Hamuko's eyes moved toward the door. "Say, Pharos… what do you know about Minato?"

"Minato…? You must mean the strange flower. He is unnatural."

"Unnatural?" Hamuko asked.

"I haven't remembered everything, so I can't quite describe it… but I feel repulsed, yet attracted when I look at him. I feel as if he is trying to consume me."

"Consume—" Hamuko lifted a hand to her mouth. "You don't mean that literally, do you?!"

Pharos smiled and slid off of Hamuko's bed. He turned back to look toward her. "I'll come again." And he was gone.

* * *

The green light streaming through the buildings and illuminating the roads fell upon a long line of buildings. All along the street were love hotels and other questionable buildings, all with the same sort of gaudy exterior. Had it been any other time than the Dark Hour, the many lights on the walls would have made the street as bright as day. All of the coffins along this street were in couples.

"Woah," Junpei said as he peered into one. "Ain't this one Taniguchi from 2-D? I thought she was a total daddy's girl, not someone who'd go down Shirokawa…"

"Careful that you don't touch any of those coffins, Iori. A Persona-user's touch has the same effect as a Shadow's call does. I'm sure Taniguchi would be quite delighted to see us walking together in the dead of night like this," Mitsuru warned.

"Wait, seriously?" Junpei took a couple steps away from a coffin. "Damn, wish she'd told me about that earlier."

"Before you drew pictures all over Kenji's coffin, you mean?" Minato asked.

"Dude shouldn't have been walkin' down Shirokawa anyways! Not my fault if he ends up as one of the Lost!" Even so, Minato was sure that Junpei would feel very guilty if Kenji actually did end up attacked by a Shadow.

Hamuko took a quick look around at the group. "Fuuka, there's only one Shadow in there, right?" Fuuka nodded. "Then let's only take four people in, so it doesn't get too complicated. Yukari's in, since she specifically requested it, and… Mitsuru-san, Akihiko-san, you two can come too."

"What, not me?" Minato asked.

"You've been in every single operation so far. I think you can take a break this time," Hamuko said coolly. Minato frowned, but stepped back and leaned against the sign at the front of the hotel. He didn't have any interest in arguing the matter this time around.

"Then we'll just be the backup squad, so that we can go in and save your asses when the mission goes bad," Junpei said confidently.

"You sound so sure that it's going to end badly."

"We don't exactly have a good track record so far," Minato said. Hamuko shrugged, and her group of Persona users proceeded into the hotel, leaving him and Junpei outside with Fuuka. Fuuka summoned her Persona, and it appeared around her, suspending her in the ball of water that made up Lucia's lower half.

"Say, Fuuka. Don't it ever feel kinda weird floating around in a giant pregnant lady's belly?" Junpei asked.

 _"Oh… um… no, I never really thought about it that way_ ," Fuuka said. Her voice transmitted directly into their heads, due to the power of her Persona. _"A-And anyways, I did a bit of research, and Lucia was actually a virgin when she died! So she's not really pregnant."_

"Could have fooled me…" Junpei mumbled.

They sat there idly chatting for a few minutes. No stray shadows were venturing into the streets, so the night was shaping up to be rather boring. Every now and then Fuuka would send a message to the others. They seemed to be wrapped up in a rather intense battle.

 _"Good job. You succeeded once again. I'll be waiting outside for you,"_ Fuuka said after a few minutes had passed. Junpei stretched his arms out and yawned.

"Sounds like we're done here," he said. But before he could move, Fuuka spoke up again.

_"...Huh!? I still sense a Shadow in that room! It's not the same one you defeated! But... Where is it hiding?"_

"Aww yeah! Sounds like it's time for the backup squad to run in!" Junpei said. Minato nodded, and the two of them ran into the hotel.

Fuuka shifted uncomfortably on her feet. _"…Arisato-san and Iori-san are going in to try and get the door open… just keep looking for that Shadow and see if you can defeat it too."_

Minato and Junpei ran for the stairs. The hotel wasn't very tall—it was only three floors if Minato remembered right. It was just as he reached the second floor's landing that he felt a wave of energy move though the hotel. He stumbled and landed on one knee. His vision swam before him. He was feeling lightheaded…

* * *

When Minato woke up, he was laying on a bed. He put a hand on his head… he still felt dizzy. His thoughts were clouded, unclear. He couldn't quite remember what he was doing there, but he had a bizarre sense of déjà vu. Someone was in the shower, which was odd, because he was pretty sure they had something urgent to do. Cleaning up could wait until later…

The feeling of déjà vu was getting stronger as he looked around the room, because he was sure he'd seen this room before.

… _This is bad._

Just as soon as he thought that, the dizziness intensified and he had to steady himself against the bed.

… _ **Embrace your desire.**_

This was familiar, and not in a good way. The voice that spoke directly into his head was strange, ethereal, and persuasive. Every word brought with it a horrid feeling, like strong hands were reaching into his mind and pulling up thoughts he'd long buried.

_**I am the voice of your inner self... Enjoy the moment... That which cannot be felt is merely a dream... The present is all we have.** _

He could definitely remember this voice from before, and just like it had in the past, it was tempting him. It wanted him to give in... Give in to what, though? It couldn't matter as much as he thought it did.

 _No, no! That's not true! You need to focus!_ He pressed his fingernails into his temples. It was so difficult, though. The Shadow's presence permeated the entire room, intoxicating him.

**_The future you seek is but a myth... The suffering of man no longer your concern... My only desire is to allow you to rest easily... to embrace_ your _desire..._**

It would be so simple to just stop resisting now and embrace his own desires... it wasn't like he needed to do anything here anyways...

And then Hamuko would...

The thought jolted Minato back into control of his thoughts. _No,_ he thought angrily. _I will not step aside here!_ He stood up, fists clenched in anger. He could feel the Shadow's presence fading from the room. Now that it was gone, he could remember where he was: he was in a room in the love hotel, the shower running in the bathroom. Someone was probably in there, still under the Shadow's influence. There was only one thing to do here.

" _Orpheus!"_

A blast of fire smashed the door to the bathroom open and Minato ran in, Evoker in hand.

Standing in the shower washing her hair was Yukari. Their eyes met, and Yukari's widened. "What was I..." She looked at Minato, then at herself, and screamed. She picked up a shampoo bottle and threw it at Minato, and before he knew it, the air was full of flying bottles and soap.

"Sorry! Sorry! Ow! I'll leave, I'll leave!"

After slamming the door behind him, Minato leaned up against the wall. That could have gone better. The shower switched off and after a few minutes, Yukari stepped out, clothes on and hair still damp.

"Of all of the... You better have a good explanation for why you broke in there!" Yukari spat. She had another shampoo bottle in hand, ready to throw.

"That Shadow was manipulating our thoughts! I thought you might be in trouble!" Minato brought his arms up in case Yukari got into the mind of actually using that bottle. Luckily, she lowered it, though she still seemed disgruntled.

"You're a piece of work, you know that? Tch," she walked over to the wall opposite the bed, where their weapons had been haphazardly thrown.

"What do you mean?" Minato remembered Yukari being hostile toward him during this operation in the past, but not this hostile. "What's wrong?"

"You're hiding things from the rest of us, aren't you? Back during that first night, you were way too cool with what was going on... and the way you fought, it was incredible, but it was... it was _too_ incredible. You'd only just summoned your Persona, but you knew exactly what you were doing. And then that one time when you were talking to that guy at the hospital, and all those times during missions when you knew exactly what the Shadows were going to do." Minato's face twisted as she continued. "And you ran off after Fuuka the night she disappeared, too, like you knew that she was going to get trapped in the school."

Yukari stared him in the eye, and Minato knew then that he wasn't getting out of this that easily. "...No one ever said you weren't observant."

"Tell me! How do you know all of these things?"

Minato laughed. "You've caught me... That night on the roof wasn't the first time I'd summoned my Persona, or the second. I've been summoning my Persona for a really long time. There were Shadows in the town I came from too. I got caught off guard that night at Tartarus, though, and that's when Akihiko found me. You guys were the first other Persona users I'd ever met, so I spent a lot of time doing research on you guys afterwards. I wasn't lying at the hospital that time; I had found out about Shinjiro and the suppressants from research." His voice didn't shake while he spoke, nor did he stumble. He didn't look away from Yukari's face. His expression remained flat, unchanging. To an observer, it was the perfect picture of truth, different from any of the previous lies he'd told. It sounded practiced.

"And the Shadows? You tried to stop us from killing them before."

"I believe that killing all of the Arcana Shadows won't make the Dark Hour go away," Minato stated. "I've got my reasons for thinking this, but know that I'll still work with you guys. But I think we should find a different way."

"I can't believe this..." Yukari lifted a quiver of arrows onto her back. "So this whole time, you've had this secret agenda and haven't told anyone? That's so selfish! This information could have really helped, and even so you're hiding things, just like Mitsu-" She bit her lip before continuing. "I bet that's why you volunteered Hamuko to be leader, too - so you could just hang in the back and do your own stuff while we actually did all the work."

Minato didn't have anything to say. He probably deserved this scolding, even if it wasn't the first one he'd gotten. He walked over to his sword and picked it up. "...I'm sorry," he finally said.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Yukari stated. "If you should be apologizing to anyone, it's Hamuko."

"I know. I'm sorry."

" _U-Um..."_ Fuuka's voice floated into the room. _"I'm sorry to interrupt, but... everyone else has already recovered from the Shadow's effects. They're ready to go fight it now, but they're waiting on you to finish... is everything alright?"_

"Everything's fine, Fuuka," Yukari said. "We'll be on our way soon." She moved toward the door.

"Hey," Minato said. Yukari looked back toward him. "You've been looking into Mitsuru, right?"

"Yeah."

"Just... go easy on her a bit when you find out what you need to, okay? This isn't any easier for her than it is for us."

Yukari didn't answer, so Minato followed her out of the room. They walked down the hall together toward the staircase.

* * *

The fight with the Lovers Shadow passed without incident. With six Persona users fighting it all at once, it was a given that it would fall at SEES' feet. They walked out of the love hotel exhausted but happy with the results of their fight. Fuuka walked up to them when they exited.

"I'm glad you're all safe," she said.

"Thanks for your help. The enemy was sly, but you did well," Mitsuru said.

"I did what I could."

"And you too, for withstanding the enemy's mental assault," she said to Hamuko, who just nodded. Mitsuru turned toward Minato and Yukari. "As for you two. I don't know what went on in your room, but whatever it was, it could have waited until later. You can expect punishment."

"Waiiiiit. You guys... you didn't," Junpei looked between Minato and Yukari.

"I'm sure they didn't do anything too bad," Hamuko said, though her tone of voice showed that she wasn't too sure herself.

"We didn't," Yukari said matter of factly. "And if I hear anyone trying to say that we _did,_ they're going to be in a world of pain."

Akihiko, seemingly tired of this discussion, spoke up with, "Alright, let's call it a night." He and Mitsuru walked down the street away from the group. Yukari moved to walk away, but Fuuka spoke up.

"Oh, Yukari. About that thing you mentioned the other day..."

"You found out something?" Fuuka nodded. "Cool, tell me later. Alright! We should head back, too." When Junpei didn't move to follow her, Yukari turned toward him. "Come on, Junpei. What are you doing?"

Junpei looked toward Hamuko. "So, you're the hero again, huh?"

Hamuko raised an eyebrow. "You helped too."

"Yeah, whatever... Who cares, anyway...?"

"Hey, why do you have to be like that?" Yukari asked. "Don't tell me you're jealous."

"Shut up!" And he walked away.

"What's up HIS butt?" Yukari and Fuuka walked off after that. Minato turned toward Hamuko.

"Hey, can we talk later?" Minato said.

"About what?"

"...Stuff that doesn't need to be discussed here."

"Alright."

The last two members of the group finally walked away, and Jin let out a breath. The group of three stood on top of a building across the street, and for some time now they had been watching the group of teenagers. Were it not for Chidori's cloaking abilities, they would have been spotted some time ago, but her abilities made it easy for them to observe the battle and the conversations that had gone on within the building.

"Damn, thought they'd never leave. At least we got some good info out of them," he said. Takaya frowned.

"They gave us quite the show... and it seems that there is discord amongst their ranks. Not everyone shares the same goals," Takaya said. "Yet our questions are as unanswered as ever."

"That one guy said that he didn't think killin' the Shadows would get rid of the Dark Hour. You think that's their goal?" Jin asked.

"If so... it would mean that our benefactor intends to use us as a tool to destroy the Tower itself." Takaya smirked unsettlingly. "I am not fond of being used."

"Easy, Takaya," Jin warned. "Let's ask our 'buddy' before we jump to any conclusions here."

"Yes... Should our assumptions be true, it would be a simple matter to remove these pests from the picture. Until that moment, though, it's simple enough to allow the Emperor to go free. Let us be away from here."

* * *

Even though they'd just defeated two strong Shadows, the members of SEES still had school in the morning and exams in the week, which was why Hamuko was not resting like she wanted to and instead studying. She wasn't entirely sure why it wasn't possible for Mitsuru to get exams waived for them, since they were saving everyone's lives at least once a month. It wasn't worth it to press the issue, though, so she didn't bother asking about it.

For spending most of the mission arguing, Minato and Yukari had been given the job of cleaning the dorm from top to bottom until it was completely spotless. Junpei, meanwhile, was moping, and no matter what Hamuko did she couldn't figure out what was on his mind. Whatever it was was stopping him from even being able to talk to her.

Minato approached Hamuko while she was studying in the lounge a few days after the operation.

"Hey," she said. "Finished cleaning?"

"I never want to go into Junpei's room again," he answered. "Hey, you're not too busy, right? I want to talk..."

Hamuko closed her notebook. "Sure. What's up?"

Minato glanced toward a spot on the ceiling. "...Not here. Somewhere else."

Hamuko raised an eyebrow. "We can talk in your room if you want..."

Minato only shook his head again. "Somewhere not in the dorm."

"We could go to the shrine..."

"That's close by. It'll work."

They walked down to the shrine together, Minato carrying a container of food with him. When they got there, the shrine was completely empty. Not even Maiko, the little girl Hamuko saw playing here after school, was there. The two of them sat down on a bench by the playground, and Minato stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled. A white dog came bounding out from a nearby bush and up to Minato's feet, wagging his tail happily.

"This is Koromaru, right?" Hamuko asked. Minato nodded. He undid the seal on the container and placed it on the ground so Koromaru could eat from it. "You seem close."

"Not really," Minato said. He scratched Koromaru behind the ears, and the dog gave a happy whine.

"Could have fooled me," Hamuko said. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to apologize for how I've been acting toward you," Minato said. He moved from Koromaru's ears to his cheeks. "And I wanted to give you a proper explanation."

"Go on," Hamuko said warily.

"I've known about shadows and Personae for a while now. Before I joined SEES, I found reason to believe that killing all of the Shadows would be a bad idea... so when I joined, I decided I would try to keep SEES from killing them. As you've seen, I've been doing a pretty bad job of it, and embarrassing myself in the process," Minato said.

So she'd been right; Minato _had_ known about Personae from the beginning. "And when I walked in on you and Igor talking, you were discussing ways to get rid of the Shadows without killing them, weren't you?"

"Yeah."

Koromaru had finished eating by this point, and the dog stood up and walked toward the bush they'd seen him come out of before. Hamuko watched him walk away. "You said that you were doing that for 'my sake' then, too."

"...I've got reason to think that if they die, you will too."

"You keep saying that you've got 'reason' to think things," Hamuko said. She kept her voice steady; she didn't want to sound confrontational. "But you won't tell me those reasons."

"You wouldn't believe me if I did," Minato said. "Maybe after this is all over."

"Minato, please stop." She turned toward him then. There was a look of hurt in his face she hadn't ever seen before, but she pressed on. "I know you think you mean well, but I don't like this. I don't want you to protect me, okay?"

"I just..." His voice dropped lower, and Hamuko had to strain to hear what he said. "I don't want you to suffer the same fate I did," he whispered.

"What do you mean?" Minato only shook his head in response to her question. Hamuko dropped the issue. "...Let's just... let's stop doing this to each other. I'm tired of yelling at each other because we're lying to each other and you're trying to be some shining knight and I'm trying to be some infallible leader. We're just stressing each other out over stupid things at this point."

"Yeah," Minato said. He held out his hand. "Friends again?"

"We never stopped," Hamuko said with a smile. She shook his hand. "So what were you and Yukari doing in that room that night, anyways?"

"Huh? Oh... she just chewed me out for the same stuff I just talked to you about, that's all. Nothing dirty, in case Junpei's trying to spread any rumors. By the way, I'd keep an eye on her. She's pretty pissed off at Mitsuru."

"I noticed," Hamuko said with a laugh. Minato reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple packaged melon breads. Wordlessly, he offered one to Hamuko, who graciously accepted.

"So who did you end up with?" Hamuko's face went red. That was personal information! "Come on, I told you what happened in my room, so tell me what happened in yours. Was there a shower involved?" He got a mischievous grin. "Were you in it?"

"No!" Hamuko covered her face with her hands. "I mean, I wasn't in the shower... Akihiko-senpai was."

"Oho."

"Stop that, you sound like an old pervert," Hamuko said. Minato grinned.

"Little do you know, I am actually an old pervert, trapped in a young man's body. At night, I leap into the windows of teenage girls and steal their underwear!"

"Gross! Is Junpei your sidekick?"

"Of course. The Panty Pincher always has a young ward to learn his perverted ways."

A voice rang in the back of Hamuko's head, but she ignored it. The conversation she was having with Minato right now was far more interesting than anything the World Arcana wanted to offer her. But now that she was thinking about Social Links and Arcana... "Hey, Minato... do you know what a Social Link is?"

For some reason, Minato's expression became incredibly flat at her question. "No."

"Oh... sorry for asking," Hamuko said. She grasped for another topic to talk about, one that wouldn't bother him too much. "Do you ever remember seeing a boy in a striped shirt? We talked about him once, a few months back." When Minato didn't answer, she continued. "I keep seeing him a lot lately, and apparently his name is Pharos. He doesn't like you much." Minato continued to not speak. This had clearly been a bad topic choice. "I probably sound like I'm crazy, with Social Links and kids that only I've seen and stuff..."

"No, I believe you," Minato finally said.

"Really?" Minato nodded.

"I completely believe you." The expression on Minato's face was filled with pain. For some reason, when she looked at it, Hamuko wanted to cry.

* * *

"...There has to be an explanation! What really happened on the day of that accident? The Kirijo Group built our school, so you must know something! Tell me the truth!"

Yukari's outburst in the middle of that meeting had not been entirely unexpected. The information she revealed was not entirely unknown at this point, not with the rumors that had gone around school. It was just that she was the only one to confront Mitsuru about them. People at school collapsing around ten years ago. An explosion at the school, with a lot of deaths, yet strangely, none of them students. A lot of information that coincided with the same time frame.

Minato sat back and listened while Mitsuru spoke. He didn't want to interrupt this... this was important for Yukari. For the rest of the group too, even if most of it was lies.

"...I wasn't trying to hide anything to you. It just never seemed relevant. But..."

"...It's okay. It's not your fault," Ikutsuki said. _No, it's your fault,_ Minato thought to himself, but didn't say anything.

"...Alright. I'll tell you the whole story... The Shadows have many mysterious abilities. Some research indicates that they can even affect time and space. We think of them as our enemies, but what if we could somehow use them to our advantage? They would be a source of unimaginable power, wouldn't they?"

"What...?"

"Fourteen years ago, one man pursued that line of thinking... He was the former leader of the Kirijo Group, Kouetsu Kirijo... My grandfather. My grandfather was obsessed with Shadows. He wanted to harness their power, and create something extraordinary. He assembled a team of scientists, and over several years collected a significant number of Shadows."

"He what!? Damn, that's freaking crazy!" Junpei said.

"However... Ten years ago, during the final stages of the experiment, they lost control of the Shadows' power. Consequently, the nature of the world was altered."

"You mean..." Fuuka breathed.

"Yes... Tartarus and the Dark Hour... By their account, the mass of Shadows they collected split into several large ones that then dispersed. These are the Shadows we've been encountering on nights when the moon is full."

"Is that why they've appeared in different places?" Fuuka offered. Mitsuru nodded.

"Wait a minute... If what you said is true, then why did our school turn into Tartarus?" Yukari gasped. "...Don't tell me... That's where they conducted the experiment!?"

After a pause, Mitsuru said, "...Yes."

"Then... those students who were hospitalized..."

"I'm afraid it's just as you're thinking. Port Island must have been an ideal location for them. It was a highly-populated area, and the Kirijo Group had influence there. They could do as they pleased... As you guessed, the experiment ten years ago was conducted at Gekkoukan High School."

Yukari bristled with anger and slammed her hand down on the table. "...Does that mean... all we've been doing is cleaning up their mess!? ...You lied to us?"

"Hey!" Akihiko warned. Mitsuru said nothing, so Yukari turned her anger onto him.

"You knew too, didn't you, Senpai!? They've just been using us! Or, do you not care as long as you get to fight?" she spat.

"That's not true. I have my reasons..." Akihiko said.

Mitsuru finally found her voice. "Think what you'd like... It was my decision not to share that information. ...I'm sorry. I never intended to deceive you. Convincing you to join SEES was my highest priority. As absurd as it may seem, only we-with our Personas-can fight the Shadows."

"How could you...!?" Yukari looked like she was about to explode.

Mitsuru couldn't meet Yukari's eyes. "Besides... some of us were never given a choice. I..."

Akihiko cut her off. "Mitsuru... don't."

Ikutsuki had remained oddly quiet for most of this conversation. Minato had to wonder if he enjoyed letting Mitsuru take the heat for all of this, but when he looked at Ikutsuki's face, he wasn't quite sure. He actually looked concerned somehow? It seemed odd. "Yukari... It's those in the past who are to blame. And they lost their lives as a result of what they did... We're all in the same boat, here; none of us deserve the burden that's been thrust upon us," he said.

"But..." Yukari sighed. She didn't look like she knew what else to say.

"It's been ten years since that incident... No one knows why those Shadows suddenly returned. But, since they're active, at least we can find and destroy them... Do you realize what this means?" Everyone looked toward Ikutsuki except Minato. "What if I told you that those twelve Shadows are the cause of everything?"

Akihiko's eyes brightened. "Then, if we defeat them all, Tartarus and the Dark Hour will disappear...?"

"Exactly! That's what I was going to tell you earlier. See, it's good news, isn't it?"

Fuuka sounded a bit concerned as she spoke. "Is that true...?"

Ikutsuki nodded. "There's evidence to support it. Now, our true battle begins."

Yukari looked toward Minato, the look on her face saying that she didn't know what to do. Minato didn't blame her.

"Regardless of what's happened in the past, we must fight to protect the people. The Shadows are gaining strength. We can't afford to just wait for them. And there are many mysteries still surrounding Tartarus. Why did such a gigantic structure appear in the first place? The answer must lie within it." Ikutsuki looked around at the group. "Well, I think this meeting's served its purpose. Let's adjourn for now." He got up from his chair and walked to the door. Mitsuru and Akihiko did the same.

The only people still in the room were Minato, Hamuko, Yukari, Fuuka, and Junpei. Fuuka looked around at the room before focusing on Minato. "This is what you meant before, wasn't it? About the Dark Hour and the Shadows?"

"Huh?" Junpei stared at the group at hand. "What're you talkin' about?"

"You weren't there for that conversation, Junpei," Hamuko said. "But Minato thinks that getting rid of all of the Shadows won't get rid of the Dark Hour."

"Huh? Seriously?" Junpei looked a little bit more cheered up at that information.

"You still haven't told us why you think that," Yukari pointed out. She scowled. "But Ikutsuki-san's explanation still had holes in it..."

"Yeah, I don't like what Mitsuru told us about either. She sounded unsure of herself," Hamuko said.

"What should we do? Do we go along with Ikutsuki-san's explanation, or should we try talking to Mitsuru-san?" Fuuka asked. "We don't really know anything else, anyways..."

"Mitsuru trusts Ikutsuki-san a lot," Minato said. "I don't think she'd change her mind just by our word alone. I want definite proof of what's going on, anyways. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But I don't think I am."

"Then let's just keep killing the Arcana Shadows like normal for right now," Hamuko said. "Once we can get some new info, we can figure out where to go from there."

"Sounds like a plan," Minato said.

"Wait, wait, back up." Junpei looked around at the group. "Alright, so Ikutsuki thinks that killing those twelve shadows will get rid of the Dark Hour, but you guys don't think so, but you're still going to kill the Shadows anyways?"

"No, Junpei, that's not what we mean..." Fuuka said. Minato stood up.

"This conversation is going in circles. I'm going to bed," he said. The others called "good nights" to him as he walked out of the door. Before he heard the door close, he heard Junpei say, "But if the Dark Hour disappears, we won't be able to use our Personas anymore..."

* * *

_The dream he had that night was oddly familiar, yet not like his usual dreams. He wasn't sure where he was... a dark void? The top of Tartarus? In front of that Door? They were all three very distinct places that he should not have been able to mistake for one another, yet wherever this place was, it felt like all three of them. Standing in front of him was that same winged figure from before... so it must have been the top of Tartarus._

_As soon as Minato was sure that yes, this was Tartarus, the world formed itself so that it surely, completely, was the tower's summit. The silver moon hanging low in the dark green-tinted sky, centered over the ring of columns around the tower's roof. The monstrous figure in the center of the tower stared up at this moon, transfixed by it. It spoke without facing him._

" _ **You do not belong here."**_

" _Didn't I tell you to shut up last time?" Minato snarled. "You're wrong! I can still change things! They finally believe me!"_

" _ **The doubt you have sewn in their hearts is not stronger than the doubt in your own. Your honesty is as worthless as yourself.** "_

_Minato drew his Evoker again. "I'm not worthless, Ryoji!" The winged figure laughed, a harsh laugh like grinding gears. It turned to face him with its clown's face, that stolen mask of hardened white skin. It was this face that haunted his regular nightmares—the ones that didn't involve him arguing with it._

" ** _You_ are _worthless. Or have the past few months taught you nothing? You lack an Answer, so you lack meaning in life. You are not a Wild Card. You are but a pawn of Death."_**

" _Shut up!" he screamed. "I'll prove you wrong! No one else is going to die, so shut up-"_

"Minato-san, please wake up!"

Minato jolted awake. He looked around his dark room. He'd been sleeping...?

"Oh thank goodness, I thought you wouldn't wake up." Minato turned to face the voice, and through the darkness, he saw Fuuka's face. "I thought I sensed something in here, so I came to check it out, but when I came in I just found you shaking and moaning in your sleep. I was about to call for Mitsuru-san when you woke up..."

"No, I'm fine... I'm fine..." He put a hand on his head and found his skin damp with sweat. "I just had a nightmare. Sorry I bothered you. Go back to sleep."

"A-Are you sure? I know some folk remedies for nightmares..."

"I-I'll be fine!" With how Fuuka's normal cooking was, Minato was sure any medicines she made would kill him. "Really. Just go back to sleep, okay?"

"If you insist... good night, Minato-san." She bowed to him before walking out of his room. Minato lay back down in his bed. She'd sensed something in this room? Probably just picking up on him freaking out. He fell back to sleep rather quickly, and by the time morning came around, he'd forgotten the nightmare of the previous night.


	16. Another Lazy Sunday

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

Hamuko opened her eyes, and found herself sitting in her chair in that rolling elevator. So she'd been summoned in her dreams once more? Igor was in his usual seat across from her at the table, and standing next to him as always was Theodore. This definitely wasn't a normal dream. Sometimes she had to make sure, especially with those dreams she sometimes had of the Velvet Room as a nightclub.

Igor smiled at her (though she had to wonder if he ever wasn't smiling) and continued speaking. "It has been quite some time since I have summoned you to this place. When you first entered this room, your fate was set along a path that had been determined long before you chose to sign your contract. And while your actions were of your own free will, they have long been influenced by the fate at hand.

"But things have changed since then. The strings that connect you to your fate are beginning to fray. Whether you choose to forge your own path or follow a path that another has laid out for you is your own choice. Perhaps, you may find it best to repair those woven strands and follow them to their end.

"Whatever you choose, remember: you have chosen this fate of your own free will, and only you are responsible for it. But the hour grows late. Please... rest easy. Until we meet again... farewell."

The vision began to fade, and with it, Hamuko's sleep, and soon she was awake in her own bed.

* * *

For the past week, the students in the elementary school's boys dorm had been preparing for the upcoming break. Most of them were going on trips with their families, who they typically did not see due to whatever circumstances that led them to live in the dormitory. For Ken, it was sure to be a long few weeks as usual. All of his relatives lived too far away for him to go vacationing, and they didn't care about him enough to do so, anyways.

It had been two years since his mother's death, when he'd started living in these dorms. It had been lonely the first year without her, but now he accepted the fact that he would be alone, possibly for the rest of his life. So while the other boys ran through the dorm packing and making sure they didn't leave anything important (like their video games) behind, Ken was content with sitting on the couch watching TV.

It didn't seem odd at all to him when an adult with long brown hair and glasses walked in; adults were always in and out to make sure the wayward children didn't decide to wreck the place. When the man sat down next to Ken, though, that was when he noticed him.

"Can I help you?" Ken asked politely.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bother you," the man said. "I was just watching this interesting show that's on television… what's it called?"

"Phoenix Ranger Featherman R," Ken said in a low voice. He hurriedly added, "But I'm not really interested in it. It's just what's on TV."

"I see," the man said. He continued to watch the television screen. What kind of grown man was this interested in a children's show? He was dressed oddly, too. Despite the fact that it was the middle of summer, he still wore a long peacoat and slacks. Suddenly, he turned toward Ken. "Your name is Ken Amada, correct? My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board at Gekkoukan High School. You've heard of Gekkoukan, correct?"

"That's the school on Port Island," Ken answered. Ikutsuki nodded.

"I manage a special co-ed dormitory for the school, and I was wondering if you would like to stay there for the summer," Ikutsuki said.

He could stay there for the summer? That sounded awfully generous. Especially since this was a high school dorm they were talking about! There had to be some kind of catch involved, right? No one could just care about him that much.

"Why me, though?" he asked. Ikutsuki only chuckled.

"That dormitory is for a special club that I administrate. The students in that club all possess a certain talent, and _you_ possess that talent too!" Ikutsuki continued. "And besides, don't you stay at this dorm every summer? Wouldn't you like to stay with other people, even if they are older than you?"

"A special talent…" Ken repeated. "What kind of talent?"

Ikutsuki only lifted a finger to his lips. "Should you decide to join our club, I'll tell you. But for now, you should think about joining us this summer." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bronze pocketwatch. That was interesting. How many people wore pocket watches like that? This man, whoever he was, was very rich. "Ah! Look at the time. I must be going." He stood up and held a hand out to Ken. Ken nervously stood up and took his hand. It was sweaty, and it was hard to get a grip. He'd been right about Ikutsuki being hot in all of those clothes, then.

"It has been a pleasure to speak with you," Ikutsuki said, even though he'd been the one to lead the conversation. He walked out through the front door, maneuvering the trails of luggage leading toward it as he did so. Ken meekly waved goodbye to him, and sat back down on the couch. He couldn't get his mind away from what Ikutsuki had said toward the end there.

"A special talent…"

He'd never had anything special about him in his life. He'd been defined by that one event that had occurred two years ago, when his mother had died. But if he really did have something special about him, a unique talent, then what was it? Why had Ikutsuki been so cagey about it?

" _Take this! Black Condor Strike!"_

His eyes moved toward the television screen, where Black Condor was performing his finishing move on the monster of the week. Could his special talent actually be a special power?

It was absurd, of course. Normal people didn't believe in superpowers. Those were the realm of the masked men he watched every Sunday morning. Two years ago would have agreed with those people.

But he knew what he'd seen that night, that terrifying night when he'd been surrounded by coffins and blood. The black rider bursting from the head of the long-haired man. Charging through their apartment wall. Crushing his mother's coffin underfoot.

That… that too had been a special power. He knew it was true.

" _On the next episode of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R! Episode 21: Trash Monster on the Move! Don't litter, kids!"_

Ken turned off the television and quietly walked upstairs to his room.

* * *

The scent of beef filled the air inside the ramen shop. Mitsuru walked down the small aisle through the middle of the room until she reached an open seat at the bar, and sat down next to a long-haired man in a beanie. He looked over at her and scowled, but Mitsuru pretended not to notice. She stared uncomprehendingly at the menu above the bar.

"Hey! How are you doing today? Just one?" the server asked. Mitsuru frowned.

"I need a second to decide…" She never knew what to do in restaurants like these. While she was well versed in traditional Japanese food through her studies, she rarely ate any, and as such was often perplexed when she found the need to come by here.

"Get her what I got," Shinjiro spoke up.

"One house special, coming right up!" The server walked away, and Shinjiro put his chopsticks down on the bar.

"What are you doing here? You ain't here to try and convince me back, are you?" Shinjiro asked, though it was more of a statement. He certainly got to the point quickly.

"No, nothing of the sort. I'm not like Akihiko," Mitsuru said. "Though I wouldn't mind you back with us."

"Save it. I get enough of that out of him. Don't need it from you too," he said, and resumed eating. The server walked back with Mitsuru's meal and placed it in front of her.

"Here you go, one house special. Be careful! It's hot!"

"Thank you." Mitsuru began to dig into her meal. She said nothing for quite a few minutes, until Shinjiro spoke up.

"Alright, out with it already."

"Excuse me?"

"You only come running to me when there's something on your mind and you don't want to talk to Akihiko about it," he said.

"I didn't come running to _anyone,_ " Mitsuru replied. "Last night… I had to tell the new members about everything. One of the girls on our team confronted me during a meeting. She already knew about the explosion at Gekkoukan, so it was just up to me to fill in the missing details. She was incredibly angry about it, but at the same time, she made me question what I was doing there."

"Then quit, like I did."

"You know I can't do that," she retorted. "As a Kirijo, it is my duty to clean up this mess."

"So that's your reason for fighting?" Shinjiro asked. When Mitsuru gave him a questioning look, he continued, "Sorry. You just reminded me of Akihiko for a second there. You gonna eat your egg?"

Mitsuru shook her head, so Shinjiro reached over and plucked it from her bowl. The mention of Akihiko reminded her of something. "Where have you been getting those pills?"

Shinjiro's face suddenly got dark. "Did Aki tell you about them? It ain't important. Forget about it."

"I didn't ask you why you're taking them, and while I certainly don't agree with your reasons for taking those, I'm not here to confront you about that. I'm asking you how you've been getting them," Mitsuru clarified. This seemed suspicious. "Production should have stopped on Persona suppressants when Ergo Research was shut down. So how have you been getting them?"

"It don't matter," he stated with no room for argument. "And you'd best forget about it."

But Mitsuru had no intentions of backing down. If there was still active production of Persona suppressants, then that meant that something was going on in Kirijo behind SEES' back. Someone who knew about Personas was going against her father's edicts for their own reasons. "This is about more than you now, Shinjiro. You know that. Now tell me the truth."

He dropped his chopsticks into the empty ramen bowl. "I ran into these three Persona users in the backstreets. They're different from us; they need them to live. So I've been buying them off of them."

"Other Persona users?" Mitsuru repeated. Her face grew pained. They were different from the users in their group. They required suppressants to keep their Personas under control. They had access to medication that should have died with Ergo Research. They must have been like her… Persona users whose potential had been artificially awakened. But she'd managed to summon her Persona naturally eventually. But these people, they must have been forced into summoning. She had no choice but to relent. "I see. I'm sorry for pushing you so hard."

Shinjiro left a few bills on the bar and stood up. "I'm going to go. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"There's still a place for you if you want to come back, you know."

He grunted and walked out. Mitsuru found herself staring into the broth in her bowl as it swirled around. What Shinjiro had told her… that too was another secret of the Kirijo Group. Something that had not been revealed to her… something she could not find on her own.

* * *

The atmosphere in the dorm was heavy that afternoon. The revelations from the previous night were obviously hanging on everyone's minds, and hardly anyone had been out of their rooms that day, and when they were out of their rooms, they almost immediately were out the door. Finally, Minato couldn't take it anymore. He had to get out of the building.

He walked out of the dorm with his headphones in, an old rock song he'd downloaded months ago playing in the speakers and drowning out the sounds of the city. Now that he'd left the dorm, he didn't really know where he was going to go from here. Before, he would have gone and hung out with some friends; he'd help out with Bunkichi and Mitsuko's shop if they were open, or maybe spend some time with Kazuaki or Kenji or Bebe. But Bunkichi and Mitsuko didn't know him here, nor did Bebe; and while he had Kazuaki and Kenji's phone numbers, it didn't feel right to bother them right now.

He boarded a monorail to Port Island, and while he rode it, it occurred to him how rare it was for him to go places like this without purpose. A year ago (or more than, since he'd returned to his seventeen-year old self a few months ago), he'd left his grandparents' house on a train to Iwatodai. At that time, he'd been completely ignorant, but he'd managed to find himself making friends, and possibly the only long lasting relationships he'd ever had in his life.

_You've lost your answer..._

The monorail rolled to a stop, and a small flood of people flowed through the doors and into the station. Minato allowed himself to be swept up in the current and passed into the station. He walked down the stairs to a set of benches and took a seat there. By now the song had changed to something else, but he had stopped paying attention to it some time ago. It was more like background noise than anything else.

Logically, he should have been happy right now. Ikutsuki had convinced SEES that the Shadows were the key to the Dark Hour, and that defeating them would be enough to make their problems away, but he'd instilled doubt in them. They weren't sure that such an easy solution existed now, and that was what was important, right? And yet, when he should have been at his happiest, Minato felt incredibly lonely.

He pulled off his headphones and hung them around his neck, and he stared up into the cloudless sky. "Elizabeth..."

"Who's Elizabeth? Your girlfriend?"

Minato turned his head to face Junpei, and he hollowly laughed. "Uh... not exactly. She's more of an ex. We broke up when I came here." He hadn't even noticed Junpei walking up. The strange part was, to Minato, it almost felt like Junpei's expression matched how he was feeling now.

"Seriously? So what was she like?" Junpei took a seat next to Minato on the bench. He slouched over and crossed his hands in his lap when he sat.

"In a word? Eccentric."

"Foreign chicks are always weird anyways..." Junpei said absently.

"You know some?"

"Nah. But I've seen some movies."

Minato shrugged. Junpei leaned back on the bench and stared up into the sky. "Man, it's so hot lately. I guess it is summer now, but this is ridiculous," he said.

"They should call off exams for summer, especially since they don't turn the AC on."

"Don't matter to me."

Minato looked over toward Junpei. He'd expected Junpei to agree with him, but he'd just pushed it off. For the first time, Minato paid actual attention to Junpei's expression. He seemed distracted by something and disgruntled cause of it. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, geez. Stop worrying."

"You don't sound fine," Minato said in response. Junpei sat up.

"Yeah, well you don't either. It ain't like you to run around outdoors like this. So what's up with you?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me first," Minato said.

Junpei groaned. "All this junk about the Dark Hour ending… well, when that ends, our powers go with it, right? So I wouldn't have a Persona anymore."

"So?"

"So there goes the only thing I'm good at! And it's not like I'm particularly good at it. I mean, look at Hamu-chan! And you too. You've both got all those amazing powers and shit, and Yukari and Mitsuru-san are great with magic, and Fuuka-chan's gotten us out of trouble a million times, and Akihiko-san's a beast with his fists, and then you've got me, who runs up and hits things with a sword and falls all over himself," Junpei said. He clenched his fists.

"Don't say that," Minato said. "You're a good friend of mine, and you've saved my ass more times than I can count."

"Easy coming from you. You and Hamuko are both the same. Good looking, great grades, strong in battle, and between the two of you you've got the pick of just about anyone you'd want to date… And then you compare that to me, who's lucky to pass Gym."

"You're still our friend," Minato repeated. "And I think Hamuko thinks of you as one too. You should talk to her! Or at least apologize to her for being such an ass lately."

"Tch, whatever…" Junpei said. He moved to stand up, and Minato was about to start chewing him out when Junpei continued. "But uh… maybe you're right. I guess I have been a douche lately. Thanks. I'll talk to her next I get a chance to." He laughed. "Man, you're easy to talk to. You should be a counselor or something."

"Hell no," Minato said with a laugh, and he stood up as well. "Listening to a bunch of teenagers whine about their problems all day? No thank you. Hey, you want to go by Wild Duck? It's on me."

"Hell yeah! I'm gonna order the Peta Wac, and I'm gonna finish the whole thing."

"Good luck." Minato threw Junpei a thumbs up. He highly doubted Junpei would finish the entire burger. It had taken everything in him to finish that burger in the past, and even then he'd gotten sick afterwards. Also, that much beef was both disgusting and expensive. Junpei could pay for his own burger.

In the back of Minato's head he felt a twinge of something. A vaguely familiar feeling, like something was coming together, and it was accompanied by a sense of warmth. It felt like a bond. His expression considerably brightened, Minato followed Junpei up the stairs to the monorail station, fairly content in the fact that Junpei seemed to have completely forgotten that Minato owed him an explanation too.

* * *

She clenched her fists so hard that they were bleeding.

She couldn't lose hope. For his sake.

But god it was hard sometimes.

She drove one clenched fist into the side of a tree, and a nearby dog whimpered. Yukari vaguely noticed that her knuckles were bleeding too. If she really wanted to, she could try and summon her Persona. Heal her self-inflicted wounds. She wasn't particularly interested in doing so, though.

It had been a bad idea to get that letter out again. The idea behind doing so was that it would give her hope again; to remind her why she'd joined up with Kirijo in the first place. She wanted to find out the truth of what happened to him that December, when that horrible explosion had occurred and everything was shoved on their family. She'd gotten the letter after transferring to Gekkoukan, and the next year, she'd discovered her power.

Another punch into the tree. The wood splintered and sent fragments into the bloodied skin on her knuckles, and she pulled away. Maybe punching trees at the local shrine wasn't a terribly great idea. She'd probably get cursed or something like that for it. Ha, as if she wasn't cursed enough already. Yukari walked down the steps and onto the sidewalk, her fists continuing to drip blood all the while.

As she crossed the road in front of Iwatodai Station, she spotted someone familiar getting off the monorail and stopped. Akihiko walked down the steps in front of the station, mumbling to himself about something she couldn't quite catch. She heard a "Shinji" somewhere in there, but that was about it. He stopped and walked over to her.

"What're you doing out here? Don't you have exams tomorrow?" he asked.

"Junior exams don't start until Tuesday," Yukari answered. "And I thought I'd catch some fresh air. It's so stuffy inside the dorms, y'know." She suddenly realized that her bloodied hands were in full view and hid them behind her back. If Akihiko hadn't noticed before, though, he'd noticed now, and he suddenly grabbed her wrist before she could hide her hand completely.

"Hey! Hands off!"

"What is this?" He held her hand up to eye level. "How did you do this? Was this on purpose?"

Yukari made her best efforts to pull her hand free of Akihiko's grip, but to no avail. Were his hands made of stone or something?! She needed a quick way out of this. "I was trying to train, geez! Give me a break!"

For some reason, this explanation made Akihiko break out into a grin. "Training, eh? Well, you can't just go around punching things like that for no reason! You're going to end up with more than just barked knuckles if you don't take proper precautions! Come on, I know a first aid place down the street."

And before Yukari knew it, she was being dragged along to some obscure health store. The walls were lined with dodgy looking vitamin supplements and discount first aid supplies, and Akihiko was currently at the front buying some bandages of some sort. He claimed they were "top notch, and soaked in herbal juices to help you heal faster". Which was probably code for "overpriced rip-off", but it wasn't like she was paying. After he checked out, Akihiko pulled her outside just as quickly and sat her down on the steps in front of the shop to wrap her wounds up.

"Now, if you don't have any kind of boxing gloves, you're going to want to…"

"I really appreciate all of this, Senpai, but… I think I'm going to stick to archery from now on," Yukari said with an exasperated tone. "I don't think boxing's my thing."

"You sure? Well, if you change your mind, I don't have a problem with mentoring you one of these days." He chuckled. "You know… I think you've got a lot of conviction. So whatever you want to do, I want you to be strong enough to get there."

Yukari blinked. That was fairly out of nowhere. "Um… thank you for the offer, but I think I'll be fine. Really."

"You sure? 'Cause I've got plenty of protein drinks. They're great for building muscles—"

"As great as that is, I really think I'll be good." She stood up. "But uh… I'll consider it. Thanks, Senpai."

"Don't mention it. And don't stay out too late, or Mitsuru'll have your hide," Akihiko called as Yukari walked off. She probably wouldn't go back to the dorm for some time. She still needed some time to think before she could face Mitsuru again. But at the very least she would not be punching any more trees.

* * *

The dorm was discomfortingly silent as Hamuko walked downstairs. As she proceeded, she realized that it wasn't just that the dorm was silent; there was simply no one else to be found… everyone must have been out for the day. She would have thought that they'd been studying, but maybe the previous night's revelations had gotten to them more than she'd thought. Mitsuru's absence in particular was most glaring; normally she didn't go out on the town during her free time, but the eldest of the group was definitely not anywhere in the dorm.

Hamuko found Fuuka sitting on the couch and tapping away at her laptop. The teal-haired girl looked up at her footsteps and hurriedly closed a window on her screen. "Oh, good morning, Arisato-san."

"Morning," Hamuko answered. It was closer to noon, but she wasn't going to argue. "Where is everyone?"

"Everyone seems to be studying... I mean, I haven't seen anyone around, so they must be studying, right?"

"I'm not sure…" Hamuko said.

"Yeah, neither am I. Maybe they're not just studying..." Fuuka sighed.

"Well, do you want to study together?" Hamuko offered. She'd need to do some serious cramming in the time between now and exams, so she might as well do it with friends. Fuuka closed her laptop and put it next to her on the couch.

"Sure! Let me go get my books and I'll be ready!" Fuuka ran off upstairs, and Hamuko followed her. They set their notebooks out on the table on the second floor and looked over their literature homework together. It turned out that Ekoda was even harder on the students in his homeroom than he was on the other classes, and Fuuka was suffering a bit. Luckily, Hamuko had been doing pretty well so far, and she was more than happy to let Fuuka look at her notes.

It was times like this when she could sit down and be a normal high school student that almost made her forget that she fought monsters every night in a giant tower. Hamuko nibbled on the end of her pencil absentmindedly. She pulled it out before she spoke. "Hey, Fuuka-chan. Why exactly did you decide to join SEES?"

"Hm?" Fuuka looked up and frowned. "I guess because it seemed like the best decision to make at the time? You'd all gone through such effort to help me, and I had a power that helped you a lot. And plus, I feel important here!"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, my relatives are all doctors, and my parents have an inferiority complex because of it. So they're always tough on me, and it's hard for me to stay at home. But here I feel important, like I can help you and the others…" Fuuka said honestly. "Come to think of it, I don't hear anyone talk about their parents. What are yours like?"

"They died in a car crash ten years ago," Hamuko stated. Fuuka lifted a hand to her mouth and gasped.

"I-I'm sorry! I shouldn't have pried!"

"It's okay." Hamuko was used to it by now. It wasn't something she spread around too much, so it wasn't like anyone really knew.

Fuuka scratched at her paper with her own pencil. "I think that maybe that's why no one else talks about their family. Maybe their pasts are just as painful as yours."

"Maybe. Hey, do you have an eraser I can use?"

"Sure." Fuuka handed Hamuko a small pink eraser, and she erased an erroneous answer on her homework before handing it back. The two of them quickly returned to their studies.

Though their brief conversation had ended on a discussion about their parents, Hamuko had found herself focusing on Fuuka's reason for joining SEES. She'd done it because she felt like she was important here. And Hamuko didn't doubt for one minute that was true; Fuuka was probably one of the most important people on their team.

The night that Hamuko had chosen to join SEES… she'd done it because of Minato and Yukari. Yukari had been positively elated to have another girl join SEES, and Minato had pulled her in through the information he withheld from her. Her decision to join had been mainly motivated by curiosity, not because she felt like she had any real reason to be here.

Even if Fuuka's reason had been for herself, Hamuko still admired that a lot. For how important she supposedly was, Hamuko didn't feel like she had any reason to be in SEES. She had a unique Persona ability, but that was about it. She certainly wasn't a better leader or fighter than anyone else in the group. And yet everyone focused on her, even though she didn't deserve such a thing.

She pushed those thoughts away for the sake of work. After all, she needed to pass those exams on Tuesday! The hours wore on, and after a few of the others walked into the dorm, the two girls decided to split up and study on their own for the rest of the night without distractions.


	17. Yakushima Beat (Hamuko Mix)

An awkward silence filled the room that night around the dinner table. No one seemed able to meet each other's eyes, and Mitsuru and Yukari in particular were avoiding looking at the other. Hamuko looked awkwardly toward Fuuka, and then lightly elbowed her in the stomach. Fuuka squeaked a little before speaking up.

"Um... Y-You know, it's almost summer break. Do you have any plans?" Fuuka asked.

Junpei happily took the conversation hook. "I wish I could go to the beach. Hot sand, cool breeze... Babes in bikinis... Man, it sure would be nice! Somewhere in the south, where the water is crystal clear!"

"I could get some sun…" Minato said quietly, lifting up his arm to his face so he could get a better look at it. It was indeed quite pale.

"But first, we have exams to worry about... Ugh, what a drag..." Junpei said with a groan.

"Now, now. You'll be fine. But yeah, I'd love to go somewhere famous for its beautiful beaches, like Okinawa," Fuuka said with a blissful sigh.

"Or Seashore Park," Hamuko offered. Junpei's face scrunched up at that offer.

"Dude, in Hokkaido? Just because it's summer doesn't mean it's not piss cold up there…"

"I thought piss was supposed to be warm? And you'll be fine, Junpei-kun," Hamuko said.

Yukari, who had been quiet and tense for most of the conversation, finally spoke up. "Yeah, your head's so full of hot air you're sure to stay warm. Though I'm not sure about the rest of us…"

"Well, it's not Seashore Park, but what about Yakushima?"

Everyone looked up at the sound of the chairman's voice and turned to look toward him, all except Minato, who Hamuko noticed had looked away and was digging into his pocket for something; like he'd decided to completely ignore the conversation the moment Ikutsuki entered the picture.

"Mr. Chairman... I didn't realize you were here," Mitsuru said.

"I happened to be in the area, so I thought I'd drop by and tell you my schedule for next week. Mitsuru, your father will be vacationing in Yakushima during the break," Ikutsuki explained. Mitsuru was the Kirijo heiress, if Hamuko remembered right, so that meant that Kirijo CEO would be there. Wherever he was staying was probably appropriately fancy. "You'll all have some time off after exams, right? Why don't you go and pay him a surprise visit?" Junpei's eyes immediately lit up, and Akihiko's smile widened ever so slightly. Yukari and Minato had no reaction, and Mitsuru only looked more nervous.

"Seriously!? We're gonna go on a trip!? YES! Beach babes, here I come!" Junpei pumped his fist into the air.

Ikutsuki turned toward Mitsuru. "How about it?"

"But... my father is a busy man; I don't want to ruin his vacation."

"Haha, don't worry... No father would be upset with a daughter who came all that way to see him. You've all done a great job." Ikutsuki put a comforting hand on Mitsuru's shoulder. "You deserve to relax for a while. We already know when the next operation will be, so it should be fine."

There was a long pause as Mitsuru thought over this. A smile finally crossed her face. "Alright. I guess everyone needs a break now and then. Let's do it."

"Woohoo!" Hamuko immediately clapped her hands over her mouth after saying that. Fuuka giggled, as did Yukari.

"Hmm, the beach... I should design a special training regimen," Akihiko said to himself.

"Dude, I'm stoked!"

"I have to go buy a swim suit," Fuuka commented.

"Hey, don't worry, I've got an extra pair you can borrow," Junpei offered.

"Don't do it," Hamuko said, which gained a smile from Akihiko.

"Nice try, man."

"Are you going to swim too, Ikutsuki-san?"

"I'm afraid I just don't do well with water. I Shujin't go near, lest I sink like a rock!" That… that was a pun. A pretty obscure one, too. Hamuko needed a moment to dissect the meaning. Shujin't… Wasn't Ikutsuki's first name Shuji? Why even bother making a pun like that when no one would get it?

Mitsuru got up from the table and walked toward the stairs, and Yukari got up after her. Hamuko considered following after, in case things flared up into another argument again. She strained her ears to hear their conversation over the current din of the group's excitement.

"Um, Senpai! Uh... Sorry about the other day... I got a little carried away..."

"...Don't worry about it. In a way, it's only logical that…"

The conversation didn't sound hostile, and Yukari was apologizing, so Hamuko allowed herself to relax. She looked over toward Minato, who was listening to his music player with his eyes closed.

"So, Yakushima! Are you excited?" she asked him. When he didn't respond, she snapped her fingers in front of his face. Minato jumped and took his headphones out, and Hamuko realized he'd been asleep. "Are you excited for the trip?" He nodded.

"I'll need to buy a new swimsuit…" he said. He gave a loud yawn.

"Are you alright? You seem a little out of it."

"Haven't been sleeping well lately…" Minato admitted. It wasn't much of a surprise; it was hard for Hamuko to get any sleep with the Dark Hour, and they were all pretty stressed out from exams and Tartarus too.

"Well, maybe you'll be able to sleep better once we're in Yakushima," Hamuko offered. Minato shrugged and put his headphones back in.

* * *

Before they could even think about Yakushima, there were final exams to deal with first. For five days, the junior class was trapped in their classrooms, bent over a piece of paper, and wracking their minds to figure out the answers to the questions. The questions were surprisingly difficult, and worse yet, the first day's test was on Edogawa's lessons. How the occult obsessed nurse had managed to get a test in was beyond Hamuko, but she was having a hard time remembering anything Edogawa had said those few days he'd substituted in.

Hamuko saw little of the other SEES members over the next few days; they were generally too busy trying to study more or catch up on sleep for them to talk. This went double for Hamuko herself; after Edogawa's exam, she had realized she was more behind than she thought, and spent more and more of her time preparing.

After five days, Hamuko could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Toriumi walked down the aisles, picking up their papers. When the bell rang for class to let out, she let out a sigh of relief. It was finally over. After talking with the others for a short bit, it was decided that they would go out and buy swimsuits at Paulownia. Once they were outside the front doors, Junpei threw his hands into the air.

"Woohoooooo! Freedom at last! What should I do now?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll think of something," Fuuka said. Yukari giggled, but Junpei ignored her to continue on.

"Hell yeah, I will! ...Hey, what're you doing here, Akihiko-san?" Junpei asked. Now that Hamuko thought about it, it was odd that Akihiko would walk home with them.

"Ikutsuki-san called me. I think he wants to talk about a new candidate," Akihiko said.

Junpei's eyes lit up, but Yukari rather noticeably wasn't all that excited. In fact, she looked ready to discuss something else. Still, she asked, "Does that mean that another person is going to join?"

"Maybe…"

"Fuuka!" Natsuki called from behind them. She ran up to Fuuka.

"What's wrong, Natsuki-chan?" Fuuka asked.

"Do you think you can stay after school with me for a mandatory study session? There's, like, no one—" It was only at this point Natsuki noticed who Fuuka was in company with. "Oh, you're going back to your 'home' home today, huh? Okay, then never mind."

She started back toward the school, but Fuuka called out, "Hey, wait. It's alright. Let's go. Sorry, I'll see you all later back at the dorm." The two walked back into the school together, chatting about something Hamuko wasn't paying much attention to.

"She's really changed a lot," Minato said with a small smile on his face.

"Ah, friendship... How beautiful! Adolescence is such a wonderful thing! So full of vibrancy!"

Minato gave a noticeable twitch and moved behind Akihiko. Yukari turned around. "Mr. Chairman...!" Ikutsuki gave a wave to the group.

"Oh, hello. I just stopped by to pick someone up. I might as well introduce you to him now." There was a young boy, probably an elementary schooler, standing closer to the school gates, and Ikutsuki waved him over. He had a calm, almost sad face, and his stance held a maturity Hamuko didn't see in kids all that often. She couldn't see someone like him getting along with Maiko.

"Hello," the boy said. Minato moved out from behind Akihiko and lifted a hand in greeting to the boy.

"Oh, hi Ken-kun. What's up?" Yukari said.

"You know him...?" Akihiko asked.

"He doesn't leave during the break because of his... circumstances," Ikutsuki said delicately.

Ikutsuki then went on to explain who exactly Ken was: an elementary schooler whose mother had died and would be staying at the dorm during the summer time. It wasn't a problem, since he had the Potential, but it made Hamuko feel nervous. Wasn't he a little too young to be dealing with this kind of stuff? Then again, she'd only been seven when her parents had…

A sharp headache cut across her skull as she had that thought. _Don't go there, don't dig too deep, you're not ready for that,_ it seemed to be saying. She stepped forward and looked down at Ken.

"Hey," she said. "I'm Hamuko Arisato. I live at the dorm you'll be staying at over the summer too. I don't have any parents either so if you ever want to talk, I'm there, okay?" Short, sweet, to the point. But instead of showing some kind of indignation or sign that he didn't appreciate her offer, he turned bright red. Had she said something wrong?

"Oh… That's alright. It's not something I really talk about…"

"Are you sure?" Minato asked from behind Hamuko. Now Ken looked away from the two of them. It was possible he was feeling crowded, Hamuko realized, and she backed off a bit.

"Yeah. I'm sure."

Akihiko had started walking on, and Ken ran after him. "Excuse me! Are you… Sanada-senpai?"

"Um… yeah."

"I've heard a lot about you…"

* * *

Hamuko met up with Yukari and Fuuka at Port Island Station the next day. As it turned out, Hamuko was in the same boat as everyone else in that she had no swimsuit to wear on the Yakushima trip. Minato and Junpei had predictably gone off to Paulownia Mall to look for something, and Akihiko had presumably done the same. She wasn't entirely sure where Mitsuru had gone off to. She probably already had a swimsuit, anyways.

Throughout the shopping trip, Yukari never directly broached the issue of Yakushima, always talking about the swimsuit matter in vague terms related to the beach and the ocean and never the trip itself. Hamuko hadn't wanted to bring it up, but it didn't feel like Yukari was all that happy about going there. Something was clearly on her mind, but Hamuko couldn't find any way to approach her about it.

Yukari stared at the wall of swimsuits, her gaze passing over each one. She sighed. "I can't find any that interest me... Maybe I should just get something really plain and be done with it."

"You're going to take the boring route after how long you spent lecturing me about my outfits?" Hamuko grasped Yukari's hand and guided her over to a rack. "At least get something pink. Pink looks good on you!"

"I-I know that!" Yukari said. She lifted the bikini from its rack. "This one does look good..."

"Then go try it on!" Hamuko started unsubtly motioning Yukari toward the dressing rooms.

"Wha- Hey! Alright, already! Geez!"

Hamuko waited outside while Yukari tried the swimsuit on, since she didn't want to intrude on her friend's privacy. The rack in front of her had a rather nice looking orange bikini. She moved to grab it when all of the clothes were shoved to the side and Fuuka's face poked through. "Boo!"

"Gah!" Hamuko hopped backwards. "Don't scare me like that!" Fuuka held a hand up to her face and giggled.

"I'm sorry, but your face was just so serious," Fuuka said. She held up a green two piece. "What do you think about this one?"

"I think it's cute! Go for it!" Hamuko gave Fuuka a thumbs up. Fuuka moved over toward the dressing room and waited by the door.

"Alright, how's this one look?" Yukari came out, dressed in her swimsuit. It fit her quite well, and was a rather bold look if Hamuko had to say so herself. Fuuka slipped past Yukari into the dressing room and closed the door behind her.

Before Hamuko could say anything, Fuuka let out a cry.

"Uh... Fuuka, are you okay in there?" Yukari asked.

"I'm fine... um... I think I got my shirt stuck in my swimsuit though..."

"You're supposed to- Alright, hang on..." Yukari walked into the dressing room. "Geez, how did you even do this to yourself!? You're supposed to take your clothes off _before_ you put on a swimsuit.

"But what if someone walked in while I was changing?"

"Who would do that?"

Hamuko decided her life was worth more than the snide comment she wanted to make and stayed quiet. They checked out a few minutes later. Hamuko had ended up going with the orange bikini she'd picked out before, and Fuuka had chosen the green bikini from before. On the way back to the dorm, the three of them stopped by Wild Duck and bought burgers, which they then decided to go ahead and eat outside of the restaurant.

"I keep biting into it, but all I find is more meat and grease…" Yukari lamented.

"It's great," Hamuko said as she bit into her own burger.

"By the way, have you heard about that Revenge Request website?" Fuuka suddenly asked. Hamuko shook her head. "I heard some girls talking about it at school. It's a secret website where you can pay money to have someone killed."

"That's sick," Hamuko said, disgusted. "Though now that I think about it, I have heard of something like that... I think someone was talking about it on the way to school one morning. What makes you bring that up?"

"I was looking into it a bit more this morning. On their website it says that 'all killings be completed by midnight of the specified date', and there's been a lot of strange deaths lately. And a few of them were in largely populated areas, and all around midnight..."

"You think that a Persona user's doing this?" Yukari asked. Fuuka nodded.

"I thought that Mitsuru-san knew all of the Persona users in the area, though... that's how she was able to find me and Fuuka so quickly," Hamuko said.

"And they shouldn't be able to use their Personas unless they have Evokers," Fuuka added. "I wonder what's going on..."

Hamuko silently ate more of her burger. If there were Persona users going around killing people, they needed to find out what was going on. Maybe not right now, because of the buzz around the Yakushima trip and the fact that a lot of them really did need some kind of vacation from this life, but maybe she could look into it later.

"Oh yeah, I hear that there's karaoke places around where we'll be staying. Or was it karaoke on the beach… Either way's pretty embarrassing. I bet we could get the guys to do it, though," Hamuko suggested.

"I've never tried karaoke before, because I've always been too scared to rent a booth on my own," Fuuka admitted. "But it looks like it would be a lot of fun."

"Mmm." Yukari looked back down at her burger and didn't say much else.

* * *

It took two hours by bullet train for them to reach Kyushu. From there, they boarded a ferry and rode that all of the way to Yakushima. Junpei was like a little kid for the whole ride, running from railing to railing and yelling out at things on the water. Had he ever seen the ocean before? Or was what he saw every day on the way to school it? Whatever his reasons, he was positively adorable about it.

A dark shape loomed on the horizon, and Junpei ran up to the front railing of the deck. He clenched his hands against it and gave a yell. "Awesome! There it is! Ya-ku-shi-maaaaaa!"

"W-Wow, so many tropical plants… Take a look at that one…" Fuuka's voice was rather obviously forced as she leaned over the rail and pointed. The tropical plant in question was across the bay and impossible to see from here. No one else looked toward where Junpei was, nor did they say anything.

The silence was deafening. Junpei looked back at the gathered group, frowning. "Come on, can't you guys get a little excited about this?"

Minato and Hamuko exchanged glances. A silent conversation of _"You say something," "You first," "No, you,"_ passed before Hamuko started clapping.

"H-Hey! Stop that!"

The ferry docked in town, and from there they unloaded and began to walk to the Kirijo summer home. The humidity stuck to Hamuko like a cobweb, making her feel uncomfortable and sweaty, and she suddenly couldn't wait to get to the house and take a shower. Through the trees in the distance, Hamuko could see the roof of a large western style house. Something that extravagant could only belong to the Kirijos. The path they took to reach the mansion passed through the woods. The path was large enough for a car to pass through, but the thickness of the trees around them gave Hamuko a claustrophobic feeling. When they finally broke through to where the mansion, she felt an intense sense of relief. The feeling was quickly cut off when Hamuko actually managed to get a good look at the house they were to be staying in: a large western style house that seemed to have been specifically built to intimidate visitors, from its three story height to its high looming windows.

"Holy…" Junpei breathed. As they walked toward the mansion doors, Hamuko caught a glimpse of a stairwell leading down to the beach and a fenced off pool to the side. She had to wonder what the point was of having a pool when you were right next to the beach, but then again, the Kirijos could probably afford it. They walked through the double doors and into a massive foyer. Standing to greet them were two French maids.

"Welcome back, Milady." The maids simultaneously bowed to Mitsuru. One of them looked past their mistress and at the gathered group. "And you must be her schoolmates, correct? Welcome to the Kirijo vacation home. Please follow me."

The door at the end of the hall opened, and a man in a suit and an eyepatch walked through. As he passed the group, Mitsuru turned to look at him. "It's good to see you again," she said. He gave her a brief glance before continuing on toward the doors.

"Was that your father?" Hamuko asked Mitsuru. She nodded.

"Dude, talk about scary! He's not gonna make us walk the plank, is he?" Junpei asked. Minato elbowed him. "Ow! Hey!"

"Don't be stupid," Akihiko added.

Mitsuru chuckled. "We won't be here long, but make yourself at home."

"Sweet! This is gonna rock! Hey, wanna go to the beach? It's right there. Dude, this place rules! Come on, let's go!" Junpei was the picture of excitement as he went on.

"What, already? I mean, sure, but let me get changed first!" Yukari said.

"Then, I'll see ya there. I'm not gonna waste a single minute!" And then Junpei ran down through the double doors.

"Excuse me, the bedrooms are _this_ way!" one of the maids called after him.

Minato waited until Junpei was out of earshot to speak. "I tried to replace his swimsuit with a loincloth," he admitted. "But Mitsuru-san caught me."

* * *

As it had rather predictably turned out, Junpei's plans for the beach had included ogling pretty girls, staring at pretty girls, and watching pretty girls as they walked around on the beach in bikinis. There was only so much Hamuko could take of Junpei going on about what a "feast for the eyes" they were, especially once he started talking about them like a used car salesman. There was only one thing she could do about it. She cleared her throat just as Junpei began to harass Fuuka about her swimsuit, drawing the attention of the gathered group.

"And here we have Contestant #1, Junpei Iori. He's gone for a rather casual look, revealing his rather undeveloped abs and wearing a baseball cap together with some _flaming_ swim trunks. All of this together screams, 'Hello world, I'm confident enough to show off my all even when I've got little to show!'"

"Hey, waitaminute…" Junpei started, but Hamuko had already moved on to Akihiko. "Second up is have Akihiko-senpai, who has gone with a sleek and aerodynamic model for quick movement in the water, while simultaneously showing off his cute little _sea bear…_ "

"S-Sea bear…?" Akihiko asked. Yukari stifled a giggle, which only encouraged Hamuko to move on further. She turned her gaze on Minato, who was staring off at a dock at the far end of the beach.

"And here's our final contestant, Minato Arisato, who has taken the same slacker look as contestant one, with a few key differences!"

"I'm not getting involved with this," Minato interjected.

"He's missing some key features, like his distinctive teacher-attracting headphones, but he's still the same Minato-kun as ever, with his lean runner's physique built up from months of track team cleverly combined with a pair of dark blue swim trunks for maximum 'Dark, Emo and Sexy' poi—"

"What's going on here?"

Hamuko turned around to see Mitsuru standing behind her. She took a couple steps back and hid her hands behind her back. "Everything's just fine!" She desperately looked toward Fuuka and Yukari, and the two jumped to action.

"Wow, Mitsuru-senpai… you're beautiful…" Fuuka said.

"Yeah, your skin is flawless! Did you already put on sunscreen?" Yukari added.

"N-No, not yet…"

With Mitsuru's attention properly diverted, Hamuko took her chance to escape, quickly walking away from the gathered girls and toward the beach. Just as Hamuko started walking toward the water's edge, she felt a chill go down her back, and she turned toward the woods bordering the beach. There was an inexplicable feeling of something staring at her, watching her from behind the thick tangle of trees and vines. Like some wild beast…

 _No, pull yourself together, Hamuko! It's probably just one of the guys trying to play a trick on you. Go find them and kick their ass!_ She started walking toward the forest. It was even darker than she thought in there. It would be easy for some kind of monster or beast to hide in there, right in the bushes where she couldn't see it, just waiting to snap her up…

She slowly stepped over a fallen branch and into the woods. A nearby tree shook as something moved in it, something too large to have been a squirrel… Hamuko's hand instinctively went to her waist, only for her to realize that she didn't have her Evoker on her. She started taking steps toward the tree.

"Wh-Who's there?"

No response. Hamuko looked up at the tree. It was a large, old one, but there were enough low hanging branches that she could probably climb it if she wanted to, though trying that with a swimsuit on probably wasn't the best idea. She put a hand on the bark and looked up, expecting to see someone standing up in the tree, their eyes meeting hers. But it was empty; there was no one up there as far as she could tell. "Who's there?!" she repeated.

Something tapped Hamuko in the back, and she let out a scream, swinging around quickly to see what was behind her. Some monster or a serial killer or—

"Chill!" Minato held up his hands. "It's just me."

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Hamuko screeched.

"Sorry," Minato said. He looked around Hamuko. "What are you doing in here?"

"I thought I saw something moving and I… never mind! It's not important!" She started walking back toward the beach. A twig stuck into her foot and Hamuko flinched back, cutting off a swear with a sharp breath. Sandals really would have been a good idea, now that she thought about it. She turned back toward Minato. He was looking up at the tree she'd been looking at, squinting at something in the branches above. After a brief moment, he shook his head and followed after her.

* * *

"Hey… I know I've been kind of a dick lately, but we're still cool, right?" Junpei suddenly asked. The sun had started to go down and everyone but Akihiko was out of the water. Minato and Fuuka had chosen to sit under an umbrella together at the far end of the beach, Yukari was suntanning nearby, and Mitsuru was sitting in a chair closer to the Kirijo home.

"Huh?" Hamuko looked over at Junpei.

"The thing at Shirakawa? Everything between then and now? Ringin' any bells?"

"Ohhh." Hamuko laid back down on her towel. "Don't worry about it. I'm kind of used to that kind of stuff."

"Uh, that ain't something you should be sayin' so casually. I'm tryin' to be serious here…" Junpei sighed and laid down on his towel too. "You're one of a kind…"

Hamuko didn't comment on that. She'd been hearing that kind of stuff a lot lately… that she was unique, that she was better than everyone else, that she was "one of a kind". Even Minato was focused on her, wanting to protect her from something. She'd never considered herself to be special to begin with, and yet here she was, being thrown into this leadership position with everyone looking up to her all of the time.

"One of a kind…" Hamuko rolled over onto her side. "Yeah, maybe—"

Someone was watching her from the forest.

She'd only seen them for a moment, but it had definitely been a person. They had blonde hair and were wearing a sundress. It was a bit of an odd combo on a beach like this. As she'd rolled over on her side, they'd ducked behind a tree and disappeared from her sight. She got onto her feet and stared at the spot where the person had been, as if they'd come out again now that she was watching them.

"Where're you goin'?"

"I thought I saw someone," Hamuko said.

"There's no one out here but us today. You were probably just seeing someone on their way back to their hotel," Junpei said. Hamuko frowned. Was that really the case? That was a pretty unique look, and that person hadn't been wearing a swimsuit. And that was twice now she'd felt someone watching her.

"I'm going to go investigate," Hamuko said.

"Do whatever you want. I'm gonna catch some more rays."

She walked into the woods again, stepping around the fallen branches and once more wishing she'd thought to wear sandals. There was no one there, and yet that feeling of being watched pervaded the whole area.

"Hey, who are you?" Hamuko called out into the forest. "You've been watching me all day, haven't you?"

Once again, no answer. Whoever this person was, they weren't interested in talking. "I'm not mad at you or anything; I just want to know who you are. Can't you show me?" There was a sudden sound of movement from the trees, and Hamuko looked up. She'd seen something blue in the branches above for a moment, and then it was gone.

 _They were in the canopy?_ Hamuko thought to herself. Whoever-or whatever- that was, they'd moved fast. She was simultaneously sure that whoever had been up there was gone now. Before she could move further into the woods in pursuit of them, Akihiko's voice called from the beach.

"Hey, it's getting late, so we're heading back!"

"Ah, sorry!" Hamuko called. Forgetting the strange stalker for the moment, she ran back out onto the beach and followed after the rest of SEES back to the Kirijo home.

* * *

Dinner awaited SEES after they returned to the Kirijo home. Mitsuru's father didn't show himself until after dinner was over, when he asked the group to enter the lounge. Just like everything else in the mansion, it was ridiculously extravagant. There were three couches that probably cost more than everything in Hamuko's dorm room combined arranged in a U shape around a table. The couches were surrounded by planters, from which some rather exotic looking plants grew.

Mitsuru's father took a seat on the couch on the far end of the room. Mitsuru took a seat on the couch to his right, and Hamuko decided to join her and Yukari on that one. The other four took a seat on the opposite couch. The eyepatch-wearing man breathed out the last bit of smoke from his cigarette before snuffing it out in a box-shaped ashtray.

"From what I understand, Mitsuru has already given you the short version," Kirijo began. Yukari nodded. "Well, it's true... We adults are to blame. If I could've atoned for it with my life, I would have done so... Now, I have no choice but to rely on you. What my father wanted to create with those monsters' power... was a time manipulation device."

"That's what he was trying to do?" Mitsuru asked quietly. So even Mitsuru hadn't known about this part…

"Imagine if you could control the flow of time...eliminate unwanted events before they occur. With such a device, you could shape the future to your liking."

"Damn, that's insane..." Junpei said quietly.

"However, under my father's direction, the research began to stray from its original goal. ...In his later years, my father seemed to have only nihilism in his heart. Now that I think about it, his madness may have resulted from his struggle to break free from that... It's only natural that you want to know the truth... and it's my duty to tell you." Kirijo picked up a remote from the table and pressed a button. The lights went out and the television on the opposite wall simultaneously switched on. Grainy, low quality footage began to play, depicting some place with clean white walls and strange machines that could barely be seen through a cloud of smoke. A faraway explosion rumbled somewhere in the video. It felt horribly familiar…

"This is the only exisiting footage of the accident, recorded by a scientist who was at the scene," Kirijo said.

" _I pray that this recording reaches safe hands…"_

"That voice…?!" Yukari leaned forward from behind Hamuko. A disheveled man with brown hair came into the camera's view. The quality of the video was horrible; it was almost impossible to see his face clearly with how it had degraded and his words didn't match his lips, coming instead a fraction of a second later.

" _My employer has become obsessed with a loathsome idea. This experiment should have never even been conceived… I'm afraid what I've done will result in an unprecedented disaster... But if I hadn't, the entire world may have paid the price..."_ Explosions continued to go off in the background, and this time, they were much closer to the camera. A rather loud one rang out, but the man on the screen gave no sign of noticing it. The sound became even harder to make out at this point, and Hamuko realized that the explosion must have damaged some of his recording equipment. _"Please, listen carefully... The Shadows that were amassed here have been dispersed as a result of the explosion. To end this nightmare, you must eliminate all of them! I am to blame for this. I knew the risks, but I was blinded by the promise of success... And so, I didn't raise any objections... It is all my fault..."_

Yukari stood up as one final explosion blew through the room on the screen. Just before a ball of fire could consume the man on screen, the video cut out. "Dad!"

"You mean... that was...?" Fuuka could only look toward Yukari, who hung her head.

"His name was Eiichiro Takeba... He was the head researcher at the time, and a very talented man," Kirijo sighed. "But, we are the ones who are responsible. We pushed him to continue the research. The Kirijo Group is to blame for his death."

Yukari's voice was very quiet as she spoke. "So, that means... my dad caused it all...? The Dark Hour, Tartarus... The people who died in that incident... It was all his fault...?" Yukari's eyes were brimming with tears as she looked toward the others. "So, that's why you were hiding this...? Because you felt sorry for me? Is that it!?"

"No, Takeba, I…" Mitsuru held a hand out toward Yukari, and the girl slapped it away. Mitsuru pulled the hand very close to her chest.

"Don't touch me!" Yukari yelled. "I don't want your pity!" And before anyone could stop her, she ran away.

No one said anything. Hamuko wasn't sure there was anything to say to begin with. It was Fuuka who finally broke the silence that had fallen over them. "…Shouldn't someone go after her?"

"Arisato…" Mitsuru looked around at the group. "Either of you… Please go after her."

Minato moved to stand, only to shake his head and sit back down. "Hamuko… please." He clenched his fists and had a pained expression on his face, but didn't say anything more. She stood up and ran down the hallway after Yukari.

She found her at the beach. The moon was a slender crescent in the sky, but there was just enough light from the house that Hamuko could make her way over to her. Yukari stood at the ocean's edge, staring out at the moon. As Hamuko drew close, she could hear Yukari speaking. "I believed in him for so long... This is too much..." Hamuko walked up close to Yukari. The girl turned her head ever so slightly, just enough to acknowledge her, before looking back out at the ocean. "Did I ever tell you…? About how my dad died when I was little? You understand now right? He died in that incident. Nobody knew the truth, so there were all sorts of rumors... Because he was in charge of the research team, people were really mean to me and my mom... We even had to move a few times."

"That's horrible…" Hamuko said.

"Yeah… but all this time, I kept telling myself it wasn't his fault. I loved him so much that I believed that he'd never do anything wrong. He even sent me a letter in a time capsule back when he was working all of the time. It spent ten years in a box and finally came to me after I moved here last spring. It was addressed 'To my family,' but it was pretty much all about me… and that only made me believe him even more. When I found out about my Persona, I thought it might be fate." She wiped at her face with her arm. "I was scared, but I thought if I cooperated with the Kirijo Group, I might find out what really happened. But, it turns out... all of that was for nothing..."

"That's not true," Hamuko interjected.

"Don't try and make me feel better…" Yukari said, and she wiped at her face again. "You saw that video too, after all… All this time, I tried to fight my fear, and reality came in and forced me to face it in the end. And it was all useless..."

"You're wrong, it's not—"

"Don't try and tell me what is or isn't true!" Yukari snapped. "I wish you'd stop acting like you have all of the answers! We were both wrong! All of us were wrong! Minato was wrong with his stupid idea about the Shadows and…" She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her hands into fists, only to open them again and let her hands drop to her sides. "I'm so afraid... I don't know what to do anymore... I'm totally lost... Tell me... What should I do...?"

"I'd believe in your dad," Hamuko said.

"You mean… I should keep believing? Ha… it sounds so simple. I'm… sorry for acting like this. You've lost your parents too. But… I think I'll be okay now. Thanks…" She was laughing now, but it was hollow and forced sounding.

"I'm always here for you, okay?"

"Yeah… no problem." Yukari looked up at the house at the end of the beach. "We should probably go back… it's almost the Dark Hour, huh?" Hamuko nodded. "Let's go then, before they send someone like Junpei out after us." The two of them began to walk back to the house together. As they were climbing the stairs to reach the lawn, Hamuko felt a chill run down her spine.

She turned around and looked back at the woods. For the third time today, she was sure that she'd seen someone watching her every move, only to find no one when she turned to look. What was going on?


	18. Yakushima Beat (Minato Mix)

Minato rolled over in his bed until he could see the window. As he shielded his eyes from the streaming sunlight, he went over his thoughts. He was in Yakushima. It was currently June something-or-another, probably in 2009. The date didn't matter, anyways. What mattered was that it was the second day of their trip. Today they'd meet Aigis at the beach; she'd be officially inducted into SEES, and tomorrow would be their last day. Nothing else of importance would happen.

The real question was whether it was worth it to get out of bed this morning. He could easily just cover his head with the covers and lay in bed all day. If he really wanted to, he could join Junpei and Akihiko in their "babe hunt". He could also try and find Aigis, but what would he even say if he did find her? Minato stifled a yawn as climbed out of bed, and he picked up his fallen t-shirt from the floor. What was the point of even being here? Maybe it would have been better to have just stayed at the dorm.

He'd had another nightmare. They'd been even more frequent since the night they fought Hierophant and Lovers. It was always him and that winged figure having these long winded conversations , and those long-winded conversations always ended in him getting frustrated and attacking the figure. He never could summon his Persona in these dreams, but they were usually nice enough to give him his sword. It was a small blessing at best against that towering figure and its own sword, with its blade as long as the tower wide. But even when the dreams were at their most vivid, he still couldn't remember them in full once he was awake, only ever little bits and snippets, and never the words that had been exchanged. He remembered Ryoji's voice, though. He always remembered Ryoji's voice.

Minato moved over to a corner of his room and stared at the blank wall. There was supposed to be a sink here, right? It had been always been here. He looked back toward the window. Oh, right. Yakushima. That meant the bathroom he wanted was across the hallway.

As Minato brushed his teeth, he could hear voices from further down the hall. He followed them, the toothbrush hanging from his mouth, until he reached the lounge they'd watched the video of Yukari's father in the previous night. Akihiko and Junpei were standing there in their swimsuits and looking at a piece of paper Junpei held.

"'We've gone to see the Jyomon-Cedar tree'," Junpei read out loud.

"It looks like Fuuka's handwriting," Akihiko said.

"Aw man! We're at an island resort in the middle of summer! Why don't they go to the beach!? That's just not right!"

"Well, it is your fault—" Akihiko looked toward Minato, frowning. His eyes traced a line down from his uncombed hair to the toothbrush and then to his t-shirt and boxers. "…Did you just wake up?"

"Mmrph."

"Dude, it's nearly noon!" Junpei tucked the paper into the waistband of his swimsuit.

"Mmrm."

"Go spit that out," Akihiko said, and Minato walked back into the bathroom to do so.

After he had one less thing in his mouth, Minato walked back out and said, "Are you guys going swimming?"

"That was what I was planning on doing. But Junpei…"

"I was going to go with the girls again, but they're all," Junpei's voice raised up into a rather poor mockery of Fuuka's. "'We're going to go see the Jyomon-Cedar tree, tee-hee!' So I was thinking, okay, that's fine. We're on a beach, in the middle of summer. If you're outta ammo, you just pick it up on the battlefield. That's basic military tactics! We'll call this Operation Ba—"

"No," Minato said.

"Whaaat?! Come on, I didn't even get to finish."

"Don't do it, Akihiko."

"I wasn't planning on it," Akihiko said exasperatedly. "I've got more important things to do anyways. Who knows when we'll get a chance to go swimming like this again?"

"Well, if you're so _high and mighty,_ where are you going to go?" Junpei asked.

"I'm going to go see the Jyomon-Cedar tree."

* * *

The sun was already high in the sky by the time Minato started his trek up the mountain. The sunlight fused with the constant humidity to create a thick blanket of heat and sweat over his body. Normally, it would take four or five hours to reach the tree, but the Kirijo home had the privilege of being built relatively close to it and it was only a two hour hike at worst. Still, he wished his legs didn't ache quite so much.

 _Akihiko would relish this,_ Minato thought. He should have invited him along and saved him the embarrassment of whatever "Babe Hunt" related shenanigans Junpei had planned. After spending another hour struggling up the mountain, he managed to make it to the large, wooden platform overlooking the tree. It looked like he'd beaten the girls here.

"They must have taken another path…" Minato said. He pulled his headphones out and slumped onto a bench on the platform. This heat was brutal. He wished that he'd thought to take a water bottle with him. There was probably a water fountain installed somewhere in the area, but before he could get up to investigate, he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look.

The girl standing under the tree wore a blue sundress, and the light shining through the canopy above gave her unnaturally blond hair an unearthly look. She was completely still, almost like she was merely a piece of the scenery, and Minato realized that he hadn't seen her approach. She reminded Minato of a wild deer, ready to bolt at the slightest provocation. He pushed himself over the barrier on the platform and landed between the bushes on the other side. His footsteps were slow, calculated. This meeting was not supposed to happen. Anything and everything could go wrong if he wasn't careful.

With barely a whisper, he said, "Aigis?"

She twitched, her entire body moving a millimeter at most, and then she turned to look at him, her eyes focused on his face.

"You are…"

Minato's heart lept into his throat. All of the thousands of things he wanted to say clogged his airway, and suddenly it was very hard to breathe. A simple three word sentence broke through the dam: "It's me, Minato."

Seconds passed without either saying anything. "Aigis?" He took another step forward.

"Further observation needed before confirmation can be made. Initiating evasive maneuver."

She bolted over the fence around the observation deck and into the forest, hopping around trees so quickly that Minato couldn't keep up with her. "No, wait!" He stretched out an arm and took a step forward. She'd recognized him. He was sure of it, that look and her words only confirmed it.

He ran up to the slope of the mountain Aigis and looked over the fence. The dirt looked loose and rocky here. One false move and he'd be sent tumbling down the mountain slope, never to be seen again. Minato lifted his leg over the fence and paused. Was there a point in catching up with her? He shook his head and continued over the fence. As he made his way down the slope, he kept his balance using the branches of low growing saplings and roots. He held tight to one particularly weak looking sapling and tested the ground with his foot. Just as he moved to make another step, the sapling snapped under his weight.

"No, dammit—"

His feet skidded down the slope. For a few tense moments, Minato thought he was going to tumble over himself and go rolling down the slope, but his hand managed to find another low hanging tree limb. He seized it, and when the branch held tight, Minato sighed in relief. That had been a close one. Before he could pat himself on the back for that small victory, his phone started buzzing from his pocket. Minato lowered himself into a sitting position on a patch of moss and did his best to ignore the moisture that was now soaking into the seat of his pants as he got his phone out from his pocket.

"This had better be good," Minato grumbled to himself. He flipped the phone open and tried his best to sound more cheery as he spoke. "Arisato speaking."

" _Oh thank god, at least you're answering me. Stupei and Akihiko-senpai both aren't picking up and we've got a big problem here,"_ Yukari said from the other end.

"They both went to the beach this morning. What's up?"

" _Is that Arisato? Could you hand that to me?"_ Mitsuru's voice said. After a moment, Mitsuru's voice came through much louder. _"Arisato, an anti-Shadow defense vehicle left a lab on the island on its own and is now running amok through the island. We need to prepare to capture it."_

"Yeah, I know. I just saw her."

" _Her? Actually, no, let's regroup and share information after we get our equipment. Meet us back at the house."_

"Right."Minato looked down the rocky slope, and then up at the observation deck. He was a few meters away from it at this point and had left a trail of devastation in his wake in his attempts to make it down the slope. The earth was all churned up and he'd torn up some of the smaller plants in his slide down. "I'll be on my way."

* * *

Several hours, a change of clothes, and one Evoker later, no progress had been made in the search for the loose anti-Shadow weapon. Before anything could be done, they'd met up in the lounge to discuss the details. It had been an odd scene, since Akihiko and Junpei had both come directly in from the beach and were still wet, so they had to sit on towels on the floor for the moment. Junpei was rubbing at a red mark on his cheek and Akihiko looked a bit sheepish, so Minato had a pretty good idea of what had really gone on at the beach.

Since he had been the first to spot her, it was Minato who ended up relaying the details of their target to the rest of SEES. "She looked like a human girl, but she's got this kind of white cloth around her neck, and she wears these headphones that aren't really headphones, they're like a hairband and air vents… and she's wearing a blue sundress, like the ones they were selling in town," Minato explained.

"And you're sure that this is the anti-Shadow weapon we're searching for?" Mitsuru asked.

"It does fit her description," Ikutsuki said. He sighed. "She doesn't have permission to leave the lab by herself. In fact, she shouldn't be operable! I wonder…"

"Yeah, but I mean… a robot?" Junpei asked.

Mitsuru chuckled. "Does it seem all that odd compared to what you've seen before now? Though I must admit, I'm surprised as well."

Fuuka remained in the Kirijo home so she could scan the area with her Persona while everyone else divided into teams. Minato and Hamuko chose to comb the beach area and the slope of the mountain, while Akihiko and Mitsuru went off to explore the jungle, and Junpei and Yukari the town. Minato and Hamuko had been up and down the path to the Jyomon-Cedar tree twice, combed the woods near the beach a few times, and now were back on the beach feeling much stickier and sweatier than they had before making this trip.

The sun began to set over Yakushima, casting orange light across the sand. The waves rolled in slowly, rising to a small white crest as they approached the shore and petering out soon after cresting. The light of the setting sun had turned the water a black color that rippled with the same orange as the sky. Minato and Hamuko walked side by side down this empty beach. Most of the beach goers had gone to their hotels, the time for sunbathing and playing in the waves long past.

"Aigis-san! Please come out!" Hamuko called into the open air. Minato kicked at a seashell and watched it go flying across the sand.

"It's going to be dark soon. Maybe we should head back," he said.

"Maybe." Hamuko stopped and looked out at the ocean. "This is really a nice place. It's too bad things have been too serious for us to enjoy it all."

"Yeah."

"You know, I used to live in Okinawa. It was just for a few months and it was during the winter, so I couldn't really go swimming, but I went walking along the beaches a few times. The water was always so clear."

"Really?" Minato said.

"Yeah. It was really nice." She laughed. "You didn't know that about me?"

"I don't know everything," Minato said. He kicked at another seashell. It landed a foot in front of the two of them, and Hamuko stepped forward and picked it up.

"No…" Hamuko held the shell up to her face. "But you know a lot of other things. Like how to fight, or where a Shadow's going to come swinging out at us from, or that the girl you saw was actually a robot.

A wave washed up on the beach, coming up to the soles of their shoes. "Are you interrogating me?"

"No!" Hamuko shook her head. "It's just… you seem sad lately. I'm worried."

"Ha." Minato smiled weakly. "I'm okay, really."

"Bullshit."

Minato said nothing. He couldn't tell the whole truth ( _Why not?_ whispered a voice in his mind), and even if he did, he couldn't be confident that anything would change for the better or that they'd believe him to begin with.

How much longer would he sit around and feel sorry for himself?

"Alright. Let's say I did know everything. Like, what's going to happen soon and all of that. What do you think would happen?"

"I dunno, us beating up Shadows? Going to school? Aigis doing robot things?"

"I think we'd kill all of the Shadows that appear on full moons and find out we made a huge mistake," Minato said. "But before anyone can realize just how majorly we fucked up, you'll put your trust in someone you shouldn't have, and then that someone's going to hurt you. You'll end up fighting that person, and then after everything's said and done, you'll die. You won't care that you're dead, because in the same moment you decide to die, you realize it's just what you have to do and you've found your own answer in the process of dying. But no one else will understand what you did, and they'll grieve for you and tear themselves up because of it, because you died for no reason to them."

Hamuko stared at him, wide eyed and with a concerned look in her eyes. "Minato, what are you talking—"

At the end of the beach was a dock leading out into the ocean, probably meant for kayaks or small boats. The reason Hamuko had stopped was someone had just walked out from the jungle and onto the dock, and Hamuko had seen this from over Minato's shoulder. The girl wore a blue sundress and had blond hair, and Hamuko could see what looked like red and gold headphones on her head…

Hamuko ran across the sand to the dock. She came up just behind the girl, not entirely sure what to say, until finally she came out with, "Excuse me… is your name Aigis?"

The girl turned to look at her. "You are…" And then her eyes moved to Minato (who had followed Hamuko to the dock), resting on him before moving back toward Hamuko. "I do not understand. My highest priority is to be with that person, but you two both…" She closed her eyes. "There must be some kind of error."

Hamuko shook her head. "I don't really understand, but you're the person who's been watching me the past few days, right? Is that why you left the lab?"

Minato stepped forward. "We need you to come with us, okay? Everyone's worried about you. You can stay with the two of us if you'd like."

Aigis stared blankly at the two of them. She slowly nodded. "I will remain by your side."

She grabbed Hamuko's hand, stepped forward, grabbed Minato's hand, and began to confidently walk down the beach, Hamuko and Minato being dragged along on either side. Hamuko scratched the side of her cheek.

"Uh, is this okay?" Hamuko asked. Minato shrugged.

"Well, she's coming back with us, isn't she? Mission accomplished."

Hamuko nodded, and then turned to Aigis. "Aigis, could you let go of my hand? You're crushing my fingers."

"Affirmative."

* * *

"So she was just waiting on the dock?" Akihiko asked. The two of them were sitting around a table in a recreation room. Junpei and Yukari were playing table tennis while Mitsuru and Hamuko were playing pool over in the corner. Ikutsuki was wandering around the room holding a microphone that had clearly come from a karaoke machine against the other wall, and from what Minato could tell, he was doing his best to convince Hamuko and Mitsuru to join him for a session of karaoke.

"Yeah. I don't know, I think she was following us," Minato said. "Wish she'd shown herself earlier, my legs are still aching…"

"You need to work up your endurance. What're you going to do when the track meet comes around this summer?" Akihiko said.

"Pray, mostly," Minato said. He'd completely forgotten about that, actually. Would Mamoru be there again? No matter how much he'd tried, he'd never been able to beat that guy… "And track isn't an endurance sport."

"Sure, but what if you decide to try out for long distance? Sprinting won't help you there." Akihiko yawned. "I think I might turn in early, actually. I'm pretty beat."

Minato shrugged. Ikutsuki came wandering over to the two of them. "Would either of you two like to sing with me? Karaoke is no fun by itself, and we wouldn't want tonight to end on a low note!"

Akihiko groaned. Minato held up a hand. "That's quite alright."

"Are you sure? I've heard that singing's your forte, Minato-kun, and I'm afraid that my efforts would fall rather flatwithout you."

 _I'm in hell,_ Minato thought to himself. _I've died again and I'm in hell._ "Really, I'm fine."

"I just thought it was worth pitching to you, but that's quite alright. I suppose I'll just have to march to my own tune for the rest of the night."

_Dear god, someone save me._

"Oh, Kirijo-san! I thought I saw you waltz by!" Ikutsuki giggled a bit after addressing the man at the door. Takeharu Kirijo gave Ikutsuki a displeased look before walking over to him.

"How is the anti-Shadow weapon?"

"She's in as good of a condition as she'll ever be, sir. Since she seems to be functioning properly, I think it would be beneficial if we added her to SEES. After all, she does have a Persona," Ikutsuki said.

"Hm. See to it that it's done, then," Kirijo said. He turned toward Minato and Akihiko. "I'm sorry that your vacation couldn't have been as relaxing as you'd have liked. That being said please do enjoy what time you have left on the island."

"Thank you, sir," Minato said.

"Trouble always does seem to follow us," Akihiko commented. Over in the corner, Hamuko put down her pool cue and strode over to the group. It was now that Minato realized that Junpei and Yukari weren't shooting insults at each other anymore, and the only noise was from the karaoke machine in the corner.

"Good evening, Kirijo-san," Hamuko said, bowing slightly.

"You're Arisato, correct? You've done a fine job of leading SEES," Kirijo said.

"Thank you, sir. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions?" Hamuko walked toward the door, Kirijo trailing after. "You see, I…"

"What was that about?" Akihiko asked. Minato shrugged.

He wouldn't get an answer until the next day when they went out to the beach for one last time. Minato was finally starting to look forward to getting a chance to relax. Junpei had, naturally, dragged both him and Akihiko out of bed at the crack of dawn so they could snag a place on the beach, which Akihiko hadn't been too happy about. Minato didn't blame him; they had been up pretty late the night before.

Minato watched as the girls came walking down the beach. Yukari, Mitsuru, Fuuka, Aigis… oh, there was Hamuko in the back. Most of them went to go play in the ocean, but Hamuko took a seat on the chair next to Minato.

"I don't know about you, but I'm beat," she said.

"Yeah, I was just going to sit here and relax today, myself. Maybe get a tan," Minato said. Hamuko snorted into her hand.

"Sure, you work on that," she said. "By the way, you're still not off the hook for last night."

He looked out at the ocean, where Junpei was splashing Aigis. He turned back toward Hamuko just as Aigis used her mechanical strength to send a five foot high splash in Junpei's direction. "I didn't think I was."

Hamuko frowned at the scene out in the ocean. "Do you think she's waterproof?"

"Probably. So what were you and Kirijo-san talking about last night?"

Hamuko leaned back onto the chair. "I wanted to know if there's any other Persona users besides us in Iwatodai. He said that we should have been the only ones, because everyone with artificial potential should have been dead." She turned toward him. "What about you? What do you think?"

"What's got you interested in this all of the sudden?"

"The Revenge Request website," Hamuko said. "Have you heard of it? You go online, fill out a form, and by midnight a couple nights later, the person you asked them to kill is dead, no questions asked. And it's the real deal; I found some news articles about people being found mysteriously dead by gunshot wounds in Iwatodai, and all of them either died at or around midnight. It's too much of a coincidence."

"I think I heard some rumors about that…" Minato said. "It sounds like…" He frowned and bit his lip. "It sounds like Strega."

"Strega? Who's that?"

"They're Persona users too, but with different ones than ours. I think Kirijo gave them their powers, actually, so they have to use Persona suppressants. I don't know anything about them other than that, though," Minato said. It probably wasn't a smart idea to mention the part where they'd be a huge pain in the neck for them in the future.

"Kirijo again…" Hamuko put a hand to her chin. "Alright then. One more question. Are you a time traveler?"

"What?!"

"Just wondering. I mean, you said a lot of odd stuff last night," Hamuko said. "The kind of stuff a _time traveller_ would say. And Kirijo Corp _was_ trying to time travel before they blew up our school!"

"Okay, now you're sounding like Junpei. I'm going to go swimming." Minato stood up and stomped down the beach to where Junpei had somehow managed to get himself stuck in his inner tube, butt pointed skyward.

"You can't run from me forever, Minato!" Hamuko called down the beach. He decided to ignore her for the moment and turned toward the dock at the end of the beach. It was just the perfect distance from everyone in the water.. He walked to the end of the dock, backed down it until he had enough distance for a running start, and then ran to the end of the dock at full speed. He leapt into the air and curled into a ball shape. The group had about a second to see what was coming before he hit them.

"Oh my god!"

"Aw man, I dropped my hat—"

"Eeek!"

"Arisato, what are you—"

"What the—"

Aigis remained completely silent and stone faced.

Minato slammed into the water, which he suddenly realized was nowhere near as deep as he'd thought as his tailbone slammed against the sand. He surfaced to see that everyone gathered was now drenched and giving him a stone faced look. Minato laughed uncomfortably.

"Haha… surf's up?"

Yukari's only response was to shove the heel of her fist into the water. Minato brought his arms up to shield his face as suddenly everyone joined in splashing him. "Ow! Hey, it was a joke!"

All in all, it was a surprisingly enjoyable end to their vacation.


	19. Revenge Request

The computer screen illuminated her face as she bent over the laptop. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard of her computer as the image on the screen stared out at her. The webpage had a simple and dated layout, mostly consisting of a black screen with white text in small, orderly rows on the page. At the top was a text banner that read, "Revenge Request." Her eyes moved to the text below the banner, and then to the entry boxes below the block of text.

**Revenge Request**

**Enter the name of the person you wish to get revenge upon and your email.**

**All requests will be completed by midnight of the specified date. Iwatodai area only, please.**

She bit her lip. This was murder. If this was true– it couldn't be true, could it? This was just one of those dumb urban legends, after all – but if it were true, that meant she was directly responsible for someone's death. How could a website kill someone? And even if it wasn't the website, that meant that there were contract killers working in Port Island. This wasn't the safest of towns, sure, but that kind of thing was just insane. But if it was true, it would mean that by entering this name she had killed this person. Maybe the gun wasn't in her hands, but she was the one who'd pulled the trigger.

But, even so—

That person. It was because of her that everything was like this. If it hadn't been for her and her family—

No, she couldn't think about that. Not now, not when this was what she had to do.

She steeled herself. She breathed out. With new determination, she put her fingers to the keyboard and tapped at it with quick, precise strokes.

**MI-TSU-RU-KI-RI-JO**

And with a tap of the Enter key, the screen changed.

**Thank you for making your request. It will be processed and enacted in short time.**

She leaned back in the chair and put a hand to her forehead. She'd done it. There was no going back now.

* * *

Grenades were really clumsy weapons. Imprecise, unpredictable, and the amount of harm they could do was entirely based on how far you could throw them. Unluckily for the Shadows, Jin had a good arm. Sometimes they went off in his face too, but that was during the Dark Hour, and that was when his special powers were in effect. And plus, singed clothes were a lot easier to replace than, say, a face.

He tossed the grenade into the air and caught it. His desk chair squeaked as he leaned back to check on his companions. Takaya had draped himself across the couch, possibly sleeping, probably just being dramatic. Hell if Jin knew. Chidori was nowhere to be found, as usual. Probably had slipped out while he wasn't looking. Whatever. She could do her weird-ass art stuff all she wanted and wherever she wanted for all he cared. He leaned forward and turned toward the computer screen, the old desk chair squeaking with the motion.

Today was shaping up to be a slow day. _I wonder if there's anything interesting on 2ch…_ Before he could even get a chance to check, the email app on his computer beeped. With a sigh, he clicked the icon, and a window popped up showing the message. Jin sat back in his chair and waved a hand in the air.

"Hey, Takaya, come take a look at this."

He heard something thump to the ground from behind him, followed by footsteps, followed by Takaya's greasy hair flopping down next to his face as the man leaned over to get a better look at the screen. Guy really needed to take a shower.

"Remarkable… absolutely remarkable…" A grin spread across Takaya's face. "It seems fate has deemed it time for us to take direct action." He straightened up. "Come, Jin."

Jin got up, the old desk chair giving another squeak as he stood. "Yeah, I'm comin'. Let's go already."


	20. Dog-Bark Bebop

Very little had happened since they'd come back from Yakushima. They'd had their last few days of school before the break, during which Yuko had come up to Minato and asked him attend summer practices in the week before competition. Though Minato already knew the results, he'd decided to go along with this anyways. There was no point in hurting the team's chances by being stubborn about it, and he did enjoy the challenge.

Everyone had been similarly occupied as of late. Hamuko was preparing for a training camp she was supposed to go in a week, Yukari had been going out with her friends almost every day, Akihiko had taken up jogging around the city, and Mitsuru was busy with her studies and official SEES business. The only person who didn't seem to be doing much of anything was Junpei, and Minato hadn't seen him around too much lately. Even so, the dorm seemed a lot more full these days thanks to Ken and Aigis having recently moved in. The boy had been fascinated by Aigis upon first meeting her, but they quickly became comfortable with each other. They even had conversations with each other, something Aigis rarely took part in.

It was eight o'clock when Minato poked his head out his door that morning after the beginning of vacation. The only thing he could hear was the chirping of birds outside the window. No sounds of food sizzling as it cooked, no television newscaster talking about the weather, no one chatting loudly in the lounge… It looked like he was the only one awake.

He nodded to himself, and then softly closed the door to his room. He could hear Junpei's snores from behind the doors as he tiptoed past to the staircase.

"Is this not outside of your normal behavior parameters?"

"Gah!" Minato swung around, holding his arms up in front of his face. Aigis stood unmovingly at the foot of the stairs, and from the looks of it, she'd been standing there for quite a while. "I thought Yukari-chan got your room situation figured out already?"

"A room was prepared for me, but this position is better from which to observe both you and Hamuko from."

Right. The 'I will remain by your side' thing. "You don't need to do that. Trust me, I am not going anywhere." He frowned and added, "Besides right now."

"Compared to the other members of SEES, your sleep patterns show several abnormalities. As your safety is one of my highest priorities, I must remain in a position to observe you, Minato-san."

 _Just how good are those sensors of hers?_ Minato thought. "Right. Well, do you want to come with me?" Aigis was quiet for a moment, staring directly ahead as she thought. She kept catching him off guard lately. Her tone of voice was too monotonous; her eyes, always unblinking; even the way she moved was too rigid. He could almost hear the gears whirring in her head as she thought over his suggestion. "You can wear your dress, if you want. I don't think people will ask any questions." When she still did not answer, Minato bit his lip. "…Do you not want to be too far away from Hamuko?"

"Affirmative."

"The shrine's only a couple blocks down the street, so if anything happens you can be back here in a jiffy."

Aigis seemed to think on it for a moment, and then nodded. "Then I will accompany you. But why are you going? You do not seem like you would partake in prayer often, Minato-san."

"I have a friend who lives there. Come on, let's go."

Once Aigis put on her sundress and Minato scrounged together something for Koromaru to eat, the two of them left for the shrine. Aigis was silent for the walk, which suited Minato just fine. It wasn't like he really wanted to talk right now anyways. As they passed through the red, wooden gateway and up the steps, she suddenly stopped and turned around.

"What is that we just stepped through?"

"It's a torii. They put them at the entrance of shrines," Minato said.

"Why?"

"How did Mr. Edogawa put it… it 'marks the barrier between the profane and the sacred, creating a sacred space for the gods to reside within'," Minato said.

"So shrines are marked with special entrances so that one knows they have entered a sacred place… I comprehend."

They walked over to the playground. Minato opened the container of food he'd carried under his arm from the dorm to the shrine and placed it on the ground, and then he stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled. The bushes rustled, and suddenly Koromaru came calmly walking out. He sat down in front of Minato, and Minato bent down and scratched Koromaru's ears with both hands. Aigis bent down as well and put her hands on her knees.

"This is Koromaru," Minato said. "Say hi."

Aigis held out her hand to Koromaru. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Aigis." Koromaru lifted a paw and placed it in Aigis' palm. She gave it a shake as Minato straightened up.

"I brought you some food," he said. Koromaru sniffed at the container Minato had left on the ground and then turned up his nose. "What? What's wrong with it?"

"He says, 'It smells like someone dipped it in machine oil and set it on fire,'" Aigis said. Feeling a wave of dread coming over him, Minato picked up the container and turned it around. The name "Yamagishi" was written in black sharpie on one side.

"I should have known…" Minato said, wincing. He walked over to a trash can and unceremoniously tossed the entire container into it. "Sorry, Koromaru," he said as he walked back over to him. "That was my fault. I should have checked first." Koromaru whined and lay down on the ground.

Aigis walked up to Minato's side. "Do you visit him every day?"

"As often as I can." Minato put his hands in his pockets. "But this is the last day I'm going to be able to come during the day for a while. I'll have to come at night, okay, Koromaru?"

The dog whined, and Minato bent down to ruffle his ears again. Aigis apprehensively stretched out a hand as if to pet Koromaru, but suddenly pulled it back. "Is it alright if I pet you?" Koromaru barked, and Minato assumed that was a "yes" in dog language because Aigis began to run her hand over Koromaru's head.

"Are you a 'dog person', Minato-san?" Aigis asked.

Minato shrugged. "They're practically people, in my opinion."

"I do not understand. A dog is a dog, and a human is a human."

"You'll understand someday," Minato said. He stood up. "Do you want to head back to the dorm? Everyone else should be getting up soon."

Aigis ruffled Koromaru's fur one more time before standing. She nodded to Minato, and the two of them walked out of the shrine together. The sun rose higher in the sky as they walked, and the humidity and heat bore down on Minato's body.

"Looks like it's going to be a hot one today. Try and keep cool, alright?"

"I can function in temperatures of up to two-thousand degrees Celsius. However, the temperature today is projected to reach thirty-two degrees Celsius, so you should take care to avoid heatstroke, Minato-san."

"Right. Thanks."

* * *

The days melted into each other as summer vacation wore on. The excitement from exams and the trip to Yakushima had long worn down, and all Minato had to look forward to were the competition in a week and the Shadows he'd have to fight in the future. On the day track practice was to start, Hamuko stopped him on the way out to ask if he would be good for a Tartarus run.

"Hey, do you mind coming along for a Tartarus trip tonight? It's not long until the full moon, and I want to get a chance to see what Aigis can do before we get too occupied to properly train," she said. Minato considered the issue, and then nodded.

"Sure, but I'll need someone to run some food over to the shrine for me."

"Huh?" Hamuko asked, and Minato explained the situation to her. Once he finished, she nodded contemplatively. "You've been feeding the dog that lives up there? Wow, you're actually a really nice guy, huh? Sure, I'll get Junpei to do it then."

At the sound of his name, Junpei looked up from the magazine he'd been reading and turned around in his chair toward Hamuko. "Huh? Why do I gotta do it?"

"I've got stuff to do! Come on, as a favor?"

"Hey, I'm just kiddin' around. It's no prob," Junpei said, and he turned back around.

They set out for Tartarus that night once everyone'd gotten home. The Dark Hour fell as they crossed Moonlight Bridge, the lights adorning it dimming all at once and the water quickly clouding with blood. The sight had stopped bothering him so long as he didn't focus on it, but just catching a whiff of that salty iron smell was enough to make him gag. He'd probably never get over how unnerved that bloody ocean made him during this time. At least they'd never had to fight a Shadow on the water.

Mitsuru walked at the front of the group, and as they walked, Minato noticed that her movements were somewhat jittery. For some time now, she'd been glancing off toward the buildings to their right and moving far too quickly when someone addressed her. When Minato looked in the same direction, he only saw the usual coffins and blood-stained walls. When she did this a third time, Akihiko took a few quick steps forward so he was next to her.

"Hey, is everything alright?" he asked. Mitsuru looked over her shoulder again, and then shook her head.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

They walked through the gates into Tartarus and into the lobby. Since Minato and Aigis were already going along on this trip, the fourth member was decided by a quick rock-paper-scissors match. Somehow, Mitsuru managed to win despite not really knowing the rules. With their party decided, the four of them stepped into the access point and began their trek through the tower.

With the deaths of Hierophant and Lovers, the barrier that had previously barred their access to the next few floors was lifted, allowing access to a new block of Tartarus. This new block was built in a more orderly manner than the previous one, with teal-colored steel columns and chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, and rectangular windows and stairs built into the walls. But new blocks meant new Shadows for them to fight, and Minato constantly found himself on his toes as they moved up the tower.

"Is it me, or do we run into a lot more Shadows when I bring you along?" Hamuko asked after Mitsuru tore through a swarm of Devoted Cupids a few floors in. Minato just bent down and picked up some bills that had fallen from the bodies of the defeated Shadows when they disappeared. It was a thought that had occurred to him as well. When he'd been on the bottom floor that one time, a Shadow had oozed through the ceiling to attack him. When he was with Fuuka, they'd encountered more Shadows than he ever remembered coming across before. And now, when they were training, a lot more Shadows were coming to attack their group. The worst part was, he had no explanation for the phenomenon. Maybe the Shadows of this world just hated him.

He decided to dodge the issue. "Why is it that the Shadows drop money sometimes? I mean, I'm not complaining, but..."

 _"Maybe this was all dropped by other students during the day?"_ Fuuka chimed in, her words ringing in Minato's head. He saw Hamuko and Mitsuru wince a bit, and Fuuka must have seen it too, because she shortly added, _"Oh, sorry… Should I use a radio to talk instead of my Persona? That might be easier on you."_

"It's fine. We'll get used to it," Mitsuru said. "We shouldn't stay in one place for too long. The shadows seem agitated tonight."

"Agitated" was certainly a word for it, if not quite the correct one in Minato's opinion. It was more like a feeling of anticipation. They were waiting for something, and his presence was interrupting their single minded focus. It wasn't helping that Aigis, who normally had at least some battle commentary to give, had hardly said a word. Minato walked up to her and her eyes focused on him, staring unblinkingly.

"Are you alright? You've been kind of quiet," Minato said.

"There does not seem to be anything abnormal. However, I advise you to be careful, Minato-san," Aigis said. She nodded toward Hamuko. "As well as you, Hamuko-san."

"Thanks, Aigis, I appreciate it," Hamuko said with a smile. She lifted her naginata into a resting stance and started walking. They continued through the floor, dodging Shadows when they could and fighting them when they couldn't, until they reached the stairway leading up the tower.

The next floor was completely silent. There was not even the sound of groaning or scurrying to alert them to the presence of Shadows. A sense of dread fell over Minato's body.

 _"There's something odd about this floor… please, be careful!"_ Fuuka called out to them.

"Let's move quickly to the next floor," Mitsuru said. They all knew by now that strange floors almost always heralded a visit from the Reaper if they didn't leave quick enough, and Minato wasn't particularly interested in leaving with a hole in his shoulder like last time.

They ran down the halls, occasionally splitting up to check doorways and see if the stairs were there. It was during a period that the whole group was together that sounds of jangling chains began to ring from down the hall.

"Go, go!" Hamuko urged quietly. They began to walk down the hall, taking careful steps so that the Shadow wouldn't hear them. The sound of chains faded away…

 _"Look out!"_ Fuuka screamed into Minato's ear. Several things happened all at once. He was slammed to the ground by a heavy force, Hamuko yelled something he couldn't make out, and something clanged to the ground next to him. The person holding him down got up off of him, and he saw that it was Aigis who'd shoved him down as she started firing bullets off. Out of the corner of his eye, Minato saw a sword blade lift into the air. He rolled to the side and it struck the floor where he'd been, breaking through floor tile and sticking into the ground. Minato hopped to his feet and looked up at the Shadow.

The thing that had attacked them was like no Shadow he'd ever seen before. Most of its body was shrouded in tattered robes, but two long, black arms could be seen from under them. In one hand it held a sword that looked comically short in its hands, but was far, far larger than a normal sword. Its head was adorned with a purple mask, the points on it arranged like a crown. The Roman numeral "IV" engraved into the mask's forehead.

 _"Its Arcana is Death… no, Emperor? There's something odd about this one!"_ Fuuka said.

Minato ran out of the way of another sword strike and snatched his sword from off the ground. Hamuko backed up, evoker in hand, and called out to Aigis, "Orgia Mode, now!"

"Proceeding!" There was a burst of flame from Aigis' exposed joints, and she rushed forward, firing off bullets from her fingertips. The bullets struck the Shadow's cloak, but instead of tearing through it like one would expect, they slammed against it and clattered to the ground, the points compressed against the main body of the bullet.

The Shadow turned around toward Aigis, its attention finally diverted away from Minato, and swung its sword toward her. She hopped out of the way of its blade and summoned Palladion. The Persona's head slid open and revealed a spear, and it rushed toward the Shadow, intending to spear it through. The spear only impacted its body with a clang of metal. The Persona disappeared, and Aigis hopped away from the shadow and toward where Minato stood. "Strike and Pierce attacks are both ineffective," she said.

"Yamagishi, we need an analysis! Now!" Mitsuru called. With a flash of light, Penthesilea's form appeared and pointed her blade in front of her. An icicle formed in the air and flew at the Shadow. Instead of being blocked like Aigis' attacks were, it sliced right through its body and pinned it to a wall.

"It's down!" Hamuko called out. She pulled her evoker from its holster, and Minato followed suit. But before either of them could summon their Personas, the Shadow began to shake, and with a sound much like mayonnaise dropping out of a bottle, its body dissolved into liquid. The sludge splashed to the ground and sunk through the space between the wall and floor, leaving no sign that it had been there aside from the gashes its sword had made in the floor tile.

Mitsuru stepped up to the wall and bent down by the crack. "It seems it's escaped."

 _"Yes, its presence is gone from that floor. However, I can still feel it somewhere within the tower, so it's still here somewhere. But what was that thing?"_ Fuuka said.

Hamuko shook her head. "Let's head back. I don't like the idea of running into that again."

They found an access point after a few more minutes of searching and headed down to the ground floor. Junpei, Akihiko, and Fuuka all ran up to the four of them once they exited the access point, everyone except Aigis showing signs of exhaustion.

"What on earth did you guys run into up there?" Akihiko asked.

"We're not sure. It didn't look like any Shadow I've seen before," Mitsuru said.

"Aw hell, another weird one?" Junpei said.

Minato took a seat on the stairs. He slouched over and watched the sweat drip from his hair onto his shoes, resting his arms on his legs as he did so. Between his injuries from the trek through Tartarus and his attempts to stay out of the way of the Shadow's attacks, he was beat. He'd been lucky, though. One strike from the Shadow's sword would have been enough to cleave him through.

Hamuko walked toward him and leaned against the stairs. "No, I don't think it's a new one," she said. "It looked like one of the Shadows we saw when we were trying to find Fuuka. Didn't one of them get away that time?"

"Yeah, I tried to lead it away," Minato said, lifting his curtain of hair with a hand as he straightened up a bit. "And the Dark Hour ended, so it disappeared. So it just came back here after the Dark Hour ended?"

"The Arcana did match that one, but something's still bothering me…" Fuuka said.

"Do you mean the strange discrepancy in its Arcana reading?" Aigis asked.

"Yes. Most Shadows only have one Arcana, but this one had two. And the one it had wasn't one I've ever seen on a Shadow, only on Minato-kun and Hamuko-chan's Personas."

Hamuko put a hand on her forehead and shook her head. When Minato turned to look at her, he saw that her face was pale and she looked a bit green. "Let's talk more about this later. I'm not feeling too good."

"Is the Dark Hour making you feel bad?" Minato asked, but Hamuko shook her head again.

"Well, if our leader's not feeling too hot, then I guess we should get goin'…" Junpei said. He clapped a hand on her back and she looked up at him, giving him a small smile. They left Tartarus, Hamuko using Junpei as a support for much of the way, and returned to the dorm long before the Dark Hour ended.

* * *

The next day was back to routine as normal. It was almost as if they hadn't just encountered some horribly powerful Shadow in Tartarus and nearly gotten killed by it the previous night. Minato left early that morning for track practice, and Hamuko, Yukari, and Fuuka left together that day, leaving only the uncomfortable combo of Junpei, Ken, Mitsuru, Aigis, and Akihiko in the dorm together.

Junpei had quickly discovered that the only one of that group he really meshed with was Akihiko, and there was only so much fun he could have by flustering the guy. His attempts to make friends with Ken hadn't gone too well either, though he'd tried his best. The kid was curious about things, but there was just some weird distance there that Junpei just couldn't bridge. The worst part was he could feel a bit of familiarity with the boy, but hell if he knew how to approach him about it.

The hours wore on, the battery on Junpei's handheld game system wore down, and the dorm did not become any fuller even as the clock approached midnight. When Ken said his goodnights and went to his room, Junpei finally decided to voice his doubts.

"Hey, uh… shouldn't everyone be home by now?" he said.

"Hamuko-san, Yukari-san, and Fuuka-san said that they would not be home until 'late tonight.' As it is not quite past midnight yet, there is still plenty of time for them to return home," Aigis pointed out. "However, Minato-san has not given a schedule for his arrival."

"Dude's probably off at the shrine again…" Junpei mumbled.

Mitsuru looked up at the clock on the wall, then at her lap. She turned toward Akihiko as he lounged on the couch and said, "Akihiko, I'm going out on a walk. Do you mind accompanying me?"

"What's up?"

Mitsuru glanced up at the ceiling, and said, "I'm not comfortable discussing it here."

"Well, alright."

The two of them stood and walked out of the dorm. Junpei straightened up and scratched the back of his head.

"What was all _that_ about?"

"It would appear that Mitsuru-san has something she is not comfortable discussing in our company," Aigis said. Junpei scratched the back of his head, and then looked up at the clock. The hands were ticking ever closer to midnight. He sighed and stood up.

"Alright, that's it! I'm sick and tired of standin' around here while everyone else gets into trouble! I say we go find one of those guys and drag them back home, dammit!" Junpei said. Aigis tilted her head to the side.

"I am to remain on standby here when we are not on a mission. Is that not correct?" she asked.

"Yeah, but that's only if we're not on a mission, and _this_ is a mission. A covert operation to find our missing comrades in enemy territory… Let's call it… Operation: Arisato Hunt." Junpei said, grinning. Aigis seemed to consider this for a moment, and then stood up.

"I will adorn the proper camouflage and join you shortly, Junpei-san."

* * *

The place Mitsuru led Akihiko to was somewhere he hadn't been to in a long time. It was an alleyway behind Port Island Station, the kind of place all of the stupid punks around town liked to hang out and shoot the shit. The last time he'd come here, he'd still been running with Shinjiro. He'd done a lot of stupid things and gotten into a lot of stupid fights in his attempts to get stronger, and it was always Shinjiro who'd held him back when things got too stupid, and when he couldn't, he'd joined in the fights and helped Akihiko beat them down. It had been Mitsuru who'd gotten them to settle down when she got them to join SEES, and it had always struck him how mature she was. Like she was an adult trapped in a middle schooler's body.

He wasn't getting that impression now as she sat down on the steps of an empty building. She squeezed her arm with her hand, not quite able to meet Akihiko's face. She squinted down a branching alley, then at her watch, then up at Akihiko.

"You've been on edge for a while now. Ever since we got back from Yakushima… no, before that," Akihiko said. "You don't have to act all strong, you know."

"The same goes for you. You heard about what happened with Amada's mother, didn't you?" Mitsuru said. "Is that why you've been spending so much time with him?"

"Yeah," Akihiko said honestly.

"Lately it seems like our pasts have been coming back to haunt us. I should have known when Takeba joined our group that things were about to change, for better or worse. No, I should have told her the whole truth right then, even if it broke her. It would be fairer than what has happened now." Mitsuru squeezed her arm. "I don't blame her for hating my entire family. Were it not for Kirijo, she would still have a father."

"Mitsuru…"

"The two Arisatos seem to be connected to all of this as well, and Minato in particular has been acting oddly since he came to this dorm. It may just be my own paranoia, but I can't rationalize his actions thus far. It may be that he's trying to sabotage our attempts to defeat the full moon Shadows as a kind of revenge," Mitsuru said.

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy, the light fading to green. Akihiko hardly noticed, only speaking up once he'd figured out what best to say. "…Don't worry about it too much," he finally said as he put a hand on his shoulder. "There's no point in making wild guesses about this kind of thing. We'll just figure things out as we go along. I'm back in the fight, and we're making a dent against those things, and we're stronger than ever. We'll have all this fixed in no time ever, right?"

"You're right. I'm sorry for dragging you out here like this," Mitsuru said as she stood up. She dusted herself off a bit, then looked around the alleyway, frowning. "Thank you, Akihiko."

"Don't mention it. I'm—"

Before Akihiko could say anything else, there was a gunshot from somewhere nearby. He and Mitsuru automatically turned in the direction of the sound, the two of them reaching for the Evokers holstered at their hips.

Standing in the mouth of the alleyway were two men. One was shirtless, his skin pale and his body covered with tattoos. In his hand he held a gun pointed to the sky. The other man wore a green jacket and carried a briefcase, and he stood to the side and behind the shirtless man. Mitsuru's eyes widened in surprise and she took a step back as the shirtless man began to clap.

"Well, this has all been rather touching, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut things short."


	21. A Gathering Of Witches

Silence hung over the alleyway, or maybe Akihiko just couldn't hear anything over the thumping of his own heart. No one moved. No one spoke. There was a simple reason for this: standing in front of Mitsuru and Akihiko were two unknown Persona users, and one of them was carrying a gun. The man in the green jacket opened his briefcase and pulled out a bundle of papers. He leafed through the papers with his fingers until he found one, which he pulled out and held to his face.

"Mitsuru Kirijo, heiress to the Kirijo Corporation, huh? You've been a real pain in the ass, you know that? This is the only night this week you've gone out without all your little buddies hanging around. The agreement wasn't for your friend here, but looks like we're gonna have to work him in, huh, Takaya?" Green Jacket turned toward the pale man-Takaya-but received no answer.

Mitsuru and Takaya's eyes were locked, neither saying a single word. It was a power play Akihiko had seen often between Mitsuru and school officials, and it usually ended with the official backing down. But no matter how much Mitsuru glared, Takaya's smirk fought back, not quite overpowering her glare, but certainly matching it.

Mitsuru finally broke the stare and took a single step forward, reaching for the Evoker at her waist in the same movement. Immediately, Takaya raised his revolver toward Mitsuru's forehead. She froze and took a step back. Takaya shook his head, a look of admonishment on his face, and lowered his gun.

They had to get that gun away from Takaya. The most obvious route was for Akihiko to use his Persona. It could move faster than he could, and if it managed to hit Takaya, he might either drop his gun or be stunned long enough for Akihiko to run in and-

"You, Beefcake. Put your Evoker on the ground and kick it over to me."

Green Jacket cut in before Akihiko could even finish his thought. With a glare, Akihiko turned toward him and said, "There's no way I'm going to—"

"Do what he says, Akihiko!" Mitsuru snapped. Helplessly, Akihiko turned toward her and bit his lip. After a moment, he nodded and placed his Evoker on the ground. He swung his foot back and kicked the Evoker across the alley, and it bounced a couple times before skidding to a stop in front of Takaya.

"Right, you too, Kirijo," Green Jacket said. Mitsuru followed Akihiko, and her Evoker landed next to Akihiko's. She remained quiet, her face the picture of disdain, but Akihiko could see the sweat dripping down her face.

"You're quite calm, aren't you? Most of our targets usually begin to panic by now, but you are giving quite the wonderful show of defiance," Takaya said.

"So you are the group behind the recent contract killings?" Mitsuru said.

"When one is given a talent, it is their duty to use it for what they must, even if their talent is one that is not deemed acceptable by the common masses. One may say it is even their duty, a concept I believe is rather familiar to you," Takaya said. Mitsuru stiffened, but did not say anything.

"Hey, let's hurry up and get this over with," Green Jacket said.

"Quiet, Jin," Takaya snapped, not taking his eyes off of Mitsuru. "I wonder, how much of your wish to bring an end to the Dark Hour comes from your own wishes, and how much of it is out of your own misplaced duty."

"You imply some familiarity with the Kirijo Corporation. Do you have something to do with Ergo Research?" Mitsuru asked, deftly dodging the topic.

"You may say that we are intimately involved with your family's sins. Unfortunately, it seems that the Dark Hour will soon and, and thus our time, and your life, has run short." Takaya lifted his revolver so that it was level with Mitsuru's forehead. She did not move, did not run forward, only stood there with her body lightly shaking. Akihiko's mind raced with improbable ideas, anything to get them out of this, but nothing felt like it could possibly work. Takaya thumbed the hammer of the revolver back, and smirked.

Mitsuru clenched her fists, and just before Takaya's finger closed on the trigger, she let out a yell.

"YAMAGISHI!"

There was a bang. The scent of gunpowder hung in the air. Takaya and Jin both stepped forward, their expressions twisted into snarls.

Surrounding Mitsuru's body was a glass ball filled with water, which Mitsuru floated within. The ball was topped with the body of a woman, her eyes blindfolded while her hair flowed freely behind her. The place where the bullet struck the ball smoked, but there was not a single crack in the glass.

"Shit! It's a set-up!" Jin yelled.

"You've got it," said a voice from behind the two of them. Out from the alleyway walked Hamuko, her naginata grasped in one hand and Yukari following close behind.

Takaya turned to look at her, and in that moment, Akihiko seized his chance. He dashed forward and quickly jabbed Takaya in the stomach, causing him to stumble backwards. Akihiko dropped into a crouch and kicked the Evokers back toward swung his Evoker toward Akihiko, but before he could pull the trigger, Akihiko quickly stood and grabbed his wrist, twisting it around until Takaya dropped the gun. With the threat of the revolver out of the way, Akihiko grabbed Takaya's other arm and held both arms behind him, raising them and lowering Takaya's body until he was in a crouching position.

"Takaya!" Jin yelled, and took a step in Takaya's direction, only to find a naginata blade at his throat.

"Don't even think about it!" Yukari said, her arrow pointed at Jin's own throat. He lifted his hands up into the air.

"How did they get around Moros' detection?! Dammit, where the hell is Chidori?!" Jin said.

"We've got a few questions for you guys. We don't want to hurt you, so if you'll just lay your weapons down and come with us, there won't have to be any problems," Hamuko said.

"Just put your Evokers on the ground," Yukari said. Takaya turned her way, looked Yukari in the eye with a close-lipped smile on his face, and then, he began to laugh. She lowered her bow. "What's so funny?"

Takaya continued chuckling, until his voice suddenly became choked. His eyes bugged out and his mouth flew open as he suddenly threw his head back. Energy burst from Takaya's body and Akihiko was sent flying to the ground. He winced and pushed himself up on one arm to see blue fire and glass surrounding Takaya's body, quickly taking the form of a gaunt, bloodless corpse held in the air by a pair of massive wings. A white light shone from the Persona's body, and it was so bright that Akihiko had to shield his eyes.

The light vanished, and Takaya and Jin disappeared with it, leaving only a briefcase and a revolver where they'd once stood. Slowly, Akihiko got to his feet. He took in the scene, and then he stomped his foot on the ground and clenched his 'd gotten away without him being able to do anything after all, and now he was more confused than he was before. Hamuko and Yukari walked past him and over to Mitsuru.

"Good work. We might not have been able to capture them, but you three helped out quite well," Mitsuru said.

"Are you alright? You don't look so good, senpai," Yukari said.

"I'm just a bit shaken, that's all," Mitsuru said. Akihiko turned to look at her.

"Wait, where's Yamagishi? That was her Persona before," he said.

"H-Here I am!" Fuuka came running out from behind a building and stood next to Hamuko. She put a hand over her heart. "It looks like I was able to do what you needed me to do, Kirijo-san… I hadn't tried to do something like that before, so that's good…"

"Yes, you did well," Mitsuru said.

"What on earth is going on here?!" Akihiko interjected. He ran a hand through his hair and stepped back.

Mitsuru turned toward him. "I'm sorry, we weren't sure if we were being monitored, so I couldn't inform you of the situation before now," Mitsuru said. "I recently discovered that someone was attempting to assassinate me, and that those responsible were likely Persona users. When they didn't try to attack me at the dorm, I realized it was because they were reluctant to attack me with other Persona users around, so I enlisted Arisato, Takeba, and Yamagishi's assistance to lure them out."

"We figured out that I could probably use my Persona to hide our presence from other Persona users with the same abilities," Fuuka added. "It's very difficult, though… I don't think I could do it for more than a few people at a time…"

"And Hamuko-chan and I were here as added backup, since we figured they'd probably try to disarm Mitsuru-senpai," Yukari added. Hamuko nodded.

"That was dangerous," Akihiko said to Mitsuru.

"Akihiko…"

"I understand what you were trying to do. But you know, I would have been completely willing to help you out with that, and you definitely didn't need to put your life on the line for something like that. Next time you need something like that done, just call me, and I'll be ready to help out," Akihiko said.

Mitsuru closed her eyes. "I'm not sure if your enthusiasm is because of your lack of survival instincts or because of a genuine wish to help out… "

"Hey, it all worked out in the end, right? Don't worry too much about it," Akihiko said.

Yukari wandered away from the group and walked over to where Takaya and Jin had been standing moments before. Hamuko frowned as she saw Yukari separate from the group, and she followed her over to the fallen items and crouched in front of the revolver.

"Where do you think he got something like this?" she asked. Yukari blinked a couple of times, then looked down at Hamuko, and shrugged.

"Who knows? It was probably somewhere really illegal," Yukari said. She bent down and picked up the suitcase. The clip was clearly not securely attached, because the suitcase immediately fell open and dumped its contents onto the ground. Several grenades bounced among a rain of papers, and they fell in a jumbled pile together. Hamuko picked up a paper and looked over it.

"…This looks like a listing of Mitsuru's daily habits," Hamuko said. "'Wakes up every morning at five so that she can properly get ready for school'… 'Always stays after school for student council meetings'… 'Travels into Tartarus on three out of five trips'…"

"That's seriously creepy," Yukari said, shuddering. Mitsuru and Akihiko both looked over as Yukari picked up a grenade. "He was carrying grenades too? What, was his back-up plan to blow her up if shooting her didn't work?"

"Maybe we should take these back to the dorm so we can study them later," Mitsuru said.

"Ngh…!"

All eyes were on Fuuka as she suddenly cried out in pain. She had a hand on her head and was stumbling around the alley.

"A Shadow…? It's strong… Emperor arcana…? It's at the shrine, along with… Aigis and Minato-kun?" Fuuka mumbled. She suddenly looked up. "They're in serious danger! We need to hurry!"

"Let's go," Mitsuru said, and that was all the prompting Hamuko and Yukari needed to gather up the fallen materials and go running after Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Fuuka as they ran to the shrine.

* * *

Junpei didn't need a second guess to find Minato. The Dark Hour had already fallen by the time Aigis had her dress on and was ready to leave. The two of them walked through the streets of Iwatodai together, Aigis following closely behind. The plan had been to check the shrine first, since it was the closest place to the dorm and Minato had been spending a lot of time there lately.

As they walked past the scattered few coffins on the streets and the puddles of blood, it occurred to Junpei just how numb he'd become to the atmosphere of the Dark Hour. He didn't remember his first time very well; just that it had shocked him into tears. Now he could stroll past these coffins like they were nothing, and he'd even learned to ignore when he ran through a puddle of blood so he could reach the Shadow he was fighting.

He idly glanced toward Aigis, who'd been walking forward without saying a word the whole time, and wondered how she felt about this whole thing. After all, she'd been created to fight Shadows, right? It didn't seem like a good idea to bring it up right now, though, so he decided to save it for another time.

The sound of gunshots suddenly rang through the air when they were a couple blocks away from the shrine. Junpei and Aigis broke into a run, following the sounds of battle until they reached the top of the shrine's steps. Standing in the middle of the courtyard next to a black stain on the ground was Minato, a white dog at his feet and an Evoker in hand. Minato turned toward the two of them and blinked.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"Dude, I should be askin' you the same thing. Aigis here was gettin' all worried since you never came back to the dorm," Junpei said.

"Actually, it was Junpei-san who suggested that we go out and look for you after—"

"Hey, hey, that part's not that important," Junpei interjected.

"Practice got out late," Minato said. "And I had a bad feeling, so I came by here and hung out for a while to make sure everything was alright. Looks like I was right." He leaned over and scratched Koromaru behind the ears. "That Shadow was pretty strong, though. I think Koromaru might have been able to take him on his own, but he'd be worse for the wear afterwards."

"Wait… are you sayin' this dog's a Persona user?!" Junpei asked, dumbfounded. Okay, a robot? He could believe that. She was a cute robot. But, a dog?

"Yeah. Though, he doesn't have an Evoker, so he can't summon at will yet," Minato said. "But you did a good job anyways, right Koro?"

Koromaru barked, and Aigis said, "He said, 'This is a place of peace. I could not let them defile it, so I protected it.'"

"Uh, Aigis… don't tell me you can translate dog language too…"

"Canines do not have their own language. However, speech is not the only means of communication," Aigis said as she bent down to scratch Koromaru's ears.

"This is really messed up, you know that?" Junpei said as he turned toward Minato. "First a robot can use a Persona, and now a dog can? What's next, a monkey?"

"Well, Yukari was calling you a trained ape the other day…" Minato said.

"Dude, low blow."

"Anyways, where's everyone else? From how you were talking it sounds like there wasn't anyone else at the dorm," Minato said.

Junpei shrugged. "Hell if I know. The girls went out to go do something earlier, and then Mitsuru-san had to go talk to Akihiko-san, but for some reason she didn't want to say it in front of me, so she dragged him out of the dorm."

"Maybe she's taking their relationship to the next level, and they didn't want you around?"

"Have you been watchin' Ken's cartoons again or somethin'?"

"What kind of kid's show has a subplot like that?!"

Koromaru suddenly began to growl, and when Minato and Junpei turned their attention toward him, he was barking at the entrance of the shrine. They stared at the space above the entrance of the shrine. The air above the entrance was flickering like an old television tuned to a dead channel. And then, suddenly, the space was filled by a black humanoid being, its body shrouded in a tattered black cloak. It wore a purple mask, and held in one of its long arms was a short sword.

Junpei was the first to speak. "Is that the one you guys ran into the other day?"

"That's the one," Minato said, his voice feeling raw as he spoke. The Shadow shouldn't have been able to appear without it being a full moon, yet here it was before him. Maybe that was why it continued to hover over the shrine's gate, its body flickering like a television with a bad signal. The overwhelming dread he was feeling and Koromaru's continued growls told him this was all too real though. Behind him, Aigis pulled her sundress from her body and threw it to the side.

"Minato-san, as we were not prepared for a serious fight, I am currently carrying a minimal quantity of bullets. While I will be able to fight, I will be operating at reduced efficiency," she said.

The Shadow's body flickered one more time, and then it disappeared once more. There was a pressure in the air, like a storm was bearing down upon them, and that was enough to tell Minato that the Shadow wasn't truly gone. It was hiding somewhere out of sight, gathering its strength for the next time it appeared. He looked up and saw the air flickering again, and ducked to the side in time to dodge a strike from the Shadow's blade.

Aigis was the first to run forward, unloading a volley of bullets from her fingertips into the Shadow's body. They struck the cloak uselessly and clattered to the ground.

"Piercing attacks are ineffective!" she called out.

"Dammit, this one's just like that fat one we fought before, ain't it?" Junpei yelled. He put his evoker to his head. "Fine! Try this one on for size instead!" He pulled the trigger and Hermes appeared before him, spreading his wings and holding his arms out as a ball of fire engulfed the Shadow. It screeched and its body began to flicker again before disappearing again. When the Shadow reappeared, it was high up in the air, far out of their range. It held its sword in front of it and a ring of multicolored light appeared in front of its body before suddenly disappearing. Once the ring of light disappeared, it floated back down to the ground and turned toward Junpei.

"Ready for round two, huh? Alright, take this! Hermes!" Junpei yelled.

"No, wait—" Minato didn't get to finish his yell before another blast of fire engulfed the Shadow. The smoke was suddenly cleared by a gust of razor-sharp wind that blew through the whole shrine, striking Minato and leaving long gouges in his arms and chest. He managed to catch glimpse of Junpei flying through the air, and when he looked next, Minato saw him llying against the fence post, his head slumped against his chest and his body unmoving.

"Junpei!" Minato yelled. The din of gunshots distracted him, as Aigis strafe around the Shadow, unloading every bullet she had into the Shadow's body as Koromaru rushed around the other side and dug his teeth into the cloak. The Shadow screeched again as the bullets struck, and it began to shake itself vigorously in an attempt to shake Koromaru free. Bullet cartridges fell from a slot in Aigis' wrists and clattered to the ground, and she hopped backwards so that she was outside of the Shadow's immediate attack range.

"Minato-san, I am out of bullets!" she yelled. "Switching to Persona-based combat!"

Minato nodded and took a step back, raising the Evoker to his head. This was going badly. With Aigis out of bullets and Junpei out of the fight, there was no way they'd be able to take this Shadow down. Worse yet, it kept changing resistances. If Fuuka was here, he might have been able to get the upper hand, but for all he knew, she could be on the other side of the city. The only way they were going to get out of this was if he was able to seal the Shadow, and he wasn't even sure he could do it.

The Shadow raised its sword to its chest, and the circular emblem began to appear in front of its body, when there was suddenly a loud thunk. Black fluid splattered down from behind the Shadow, and it screeched and flickered until it disappeared once more. The axe that had sunk into the Shadow's back clattered to the ground and was pulled into the air again by a dainty hand. The chunk of the cloak that Koromaru had been holding onto tore off in his mouth and he fell to the ground yelping.

Standing where the Shadow had been was a girl with long red hair. She wore white dress and held a long chain between both of her hands. Hanging from the chain was a fireman's axe that still dripped with black liquid. She stepped forward, her expression flat, almost annoyed, and looked around the shrine.

"Chidori," Minato breathed. She placed her Evoker against her temple, and with a bang, the ram-headed form of her Persona appeared. A white light that Minato recognized as a Tetrakarn spell appeared over Chidori's body just as the Shadow flickered into existence and swung its sword at her. The blade bounced off of the light, which became blindingly bright before lifting off of Chidori's body and rushing into the Shadow, which screeched and flew into the air again. It raised its sword and the multicolored light appeared for the third time this fight before it held its blade up and a black fog descended toward Chidori's body. She hopped out of the way of the fog and placed her Evoker to her temple again.

In an instant, Minato realized what she was trying to do. For whatever reason, Chidori wasn't trying to kill this Shadow, just distract it. She was giving him the exact opening he needed to seal it.

His memory of the last time he'd done something like this was faint. He'd just done what his instincts told him to do, and the person he'd been then was much different from the person he was now. He breathed in and out until his heartbeat had slowed, and once it was at a sufficient speed, he held his finger out and concentrated all of his will on it.

The Shadow began to screech and it froze, its body flickering more than before. The cloak that made up its body divided into several pieces and flew toward Minato, dissolving into blackness as their power entered his body. Minato's knees began to shake, and he stepped forward to adjust his stance. His shadow writhed and shook on the ground, barely visible in the unnatural moonlight of the Dark Hour. There was a feeling of dread welling up inside Minato's chest, and he felt like he could hardly breathe.

It feels like something's pushing against me… Minato thought to himself. He tried to focus his will on his finger more, but his chest was only feeling more and more constricted, his heartbeat growing louder in his ears, and he could hardly breathe. The connection between the Shadow and him grew more and more strained by the moment.

The Shadow gave one last screech and the connection shattered. With the pull on him gone, Minato fell backwards and landed on the ground. The Shadow flew high into the air and disappeared in a haze of static, leaving them alone.

"Minato-san!" Aigis yelled. She ran to him and knelt by his side, placing a hand on his shoulder as she helped him into a sitting position. Koromaru ran over to him and put his head on Minato's thigh, whining a bit as he did so. Minato looked over toward Chidori, and saw that she was dragging Junpei's body over toward him. She unceremoniously dropped him next to Minato.

"He's not dead," she said. "He'll just be unconscious for a while. You'll want to make sure his brain's not hemorrhaging."

And then, before Minato could respond, she grabbed her axe and swung it right in front of Minato's face.

Aigis threw her arm up in front of Minato's body, while Koromaru charged at Chidori's legs and snapped at them. The axe stopped before it reached Aigis' arm, and Chidori lifted her leg so that it was out of the way of Koromaru's snaps.

"Aigis, Koromaru, stand down," Minato ordered. Aigis very slowly lowered her arm and placed it on Minato's shoulder. Koromaru took a few steps back toward Minato, but continued to growl. "Don't even think about it, Chidori. There's no way the others haven't noticed what was going on here yet."

"The other members of your group are currently halfway across the Moonlight Bridge, and won't be here for some time," Chidori said. She moved her gaze over the scene, focusing on Aigis and Koromaru the most. "You're quite loved, aren't you? I wouldn't recommend attacking me. I don't care if I die, but I doubt your friends will appreciate it."

She lowered the axe and took a step back. She stared down at Minato with disdain. "I want you to tell me what you are. You don't belong here, so obviously you know, right?"

"What are you talking about?" Minato said.

"You're strange. It's like someone cut out a picture and pasted it into the wrong photograph… I'm honestly surprised that no one else noticed before now. Maybe they just didn't look long enough to see the seams where you were sewn in," Chidori said.

So she didn't know the details, even if she knew he wasn't supposed to be in this world. That was fortunate, so long as she didn't run off yelling about it to the other SEES members. He shrugged and said, "I have something I have to do, that's all. You wouldn't have helped me if you didn't understand that, right?"

Chidori was silent for a moment, and she lazily turned her head to the right, like she was staring at something off in the distance. Finally she said, "They're already in Iwatodai…" She turned her head toward Minato. "Even if your goals align with ours, you're still an enemy so long as you're with them."

"I can convince them. I know I can," Minato said.

Chidori didn't respond, and instead turned around and walked toward the shrine gates and down the stairs.

Minato let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and leaned his head back so that he was looking up into the green-colored sky. He sighed and lay down on the ground. Now that the tension was gone, his body felt heavy, and he felt no inclination to sit up again. Koromaru laid his head on Minato's chest, and he lazily scratched the dog's ears. Aigis sat down by Minato's head and placed her hands in her lap.

"Are you alright, Minato-san?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just feel really tired, that's all…"

"If you need to rest, please do so. I will remain here by your side."

Minato smiled and turned his head to look at the sky. His eyelids felt heavy in a very familiar way. Aigis' lap had felt so nice back then…

Minutes passed without Minato being aware of it. When he was next awake, he heard voices all around him. He opened his eyes and saw Fuuka and Mitsuru standing next to him. He blinked a couple of times before suddenly sitting up and looking around. Fuuka and Mitsuru both turned toward him and Fuuka gasped.

"Oh, Minato-kun! You're finally awake!" she said.

"We thought we might need to take you to the hospital along with Iori, but Aigis said you were just resting. She didn't seem to be malfunctioning, so I trusted her judgment in this case," Mitsuru said.

"When did you get here?" Minato asked. He hadn't been out that long, had he?

"Just a few minutes ago. Takeba and Akihiko managed to get Iori stable, so we were just waiting for you to wake up."

He looked around the shrine courtyard. Akihiko and Yukari were crouched over Junpei and talking to each other in low voices. Hamuko was examining a gouge that had been left in the path's tiles, and she lazily kicked a broken piece of tile over.

"What happened here? This place is a mess," she said.

"I think we should probably wait until after the Dark Hour to talk about that," Minato said sheepishly. It sounded like Aigis hadn't said anything about his fight with the large Shadow or the conversation he'd had with Chidori.

"I agree. Let's return to the dorm. Akihiko, will you be alright carrying Iori on your own?" Mitsuru asked. Akihiko pulled Junpei's unconscious form up onto his back and turned to look at her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Let's get going," he said. The group began to move toward the stairwell leading out of the shrine, Koromaru and Aigis walking close behind. Before walking through the gate, Minato stopped and looked back over the inside of the shrine. The gravel and dirt surrounding the tile path was torn up, and bits and pieces of the tile pathway lay around the shrine. The fencing surrounding the courtyard was splintered and, in the spot where Junpei had been flung against it, completely broken. He sighed, put his hands in his pockets, and walked down after the rest of the group.

"Man… what a night."


	22. End of Request

From the moment she'd made the request, she regretted it. She had been so quick to hit that button, and with each day that had passed since then, the idea of it being just a dumb urban legend waned. There was no way someone had put this much effort into that website for it to not be real. Yet there was no response from whoever was behind it. Would they contact her after the deed was done? Would they contact her at all? Was it just a prank? Was it real?

As it turned out, it had been incredibly real.

She'd come home that night and opened her laptop, as she had every night for some weeks now. There was a new message sitting in her email inbox when she got there. With a shaky hand, she moved the cursor over to the message and opened it. The message was simple:

**Unfortunately, your request for**

" **MITSURU KIRIJO "**

**could not be carried out.**

**If you still wish revenge on the person specified, please re-enter your information on our website, and we will attempt your request once more.**

**Thank you, and have a nice day.**

She slumped back into her chair. They weren't going to go after her any more. They'd given up.

Her hand met her forehead, brushing sweat-drenched bangs out of her eyes. Oh god, she'd nearly gotten someone killed. It was real. It was completely real, and she hadn't just been being paranoid these past few days. The gun was in her hands.

It was that person's fault that her life was like this. Kirijo and her whole family, it was all their fault. Even so… Even so—!

Tears streamed down her face. What the hell had she been thinking? That the Kirijos deserved it? Maybe they did, but that wasn't her decision to make. She was lucky no one had gotten killed.

She clicked the trash can symbol, and the email disappeared from her screen. It would be best to just forget this had even happened. No one ever needed to know that she'd been involved in this.

* * *

"Shit!"

Jin kicked the wastebasket by the door as he walked into the apartment, Takaya trailing after him with sweat beading down his forehead and a hand covering one eye. The basket bounced across the floor, leaving scattered tissues and empty bottles of pills in its wake and adding to the clutter already on the ground. With a bang, it hit the side of the computer tower standing next to the desk, and Jin watched it quietly roll away. He clicked his tongue and turned away from it.

"Dammit! What happened out there?!" he hissed.

"It seems… we were outmaneuvered. How very… interesting," Takaya said as he sat down on the dirtied couch. He lightly chuckled as he slumped over, clasping his hands together in his lap so that they hung between his spread legs.

Jin just clicked his tongue again as he crouched down and picking up some of the trash he'd scattered. Interesting or not, it was frustrating. It wasn't like they hadn't dealt with other people with Personas in their line of work. Once or twice they'd run into someone who'd been involved in the Kirijo experiments, and there had been a weird case involving someone from out of town who'd also happened to have a Persona. But this was the first time he'd underestimated their quarry so greatly.

He scooped an empty pill bottle into his hand and tossed it toward the basket. It was dirty, dirty business, but he didn't really mind it that much. Wasn't like that deadline hanging over their heads was getting any further away.

Takaya coughed from behind him, and Jin turned back around to see that he'd covered his mouth with his hand. Groaning, Jin stood up and picked up a water bottle from the table, tossing it over to Takaya, landing on the couch next to him. "Drink. Take your pills, too. I know you've been skipping them again."

Takaya unscrewed the bottle and began to drink, and Jin watched Takaya's Adam's apple bob as he chugged it. When the bottle was empty, Takaya slumped over again, breathing softly.

"Pills, Takaya."

"Do not worry… Hypnos sleeps within me for now. There is no reason for me to do more harm to this shell than I already have," he said. Before Jin could object, Takaya raised a hand into the air. "You should focus on yourself. The ones who wish to bring the end of the Dark Hour now know that we seek the death of their leader, and, more importantly, they will soon face another of the twelve."

"Yeah. Are we going to intercept them as planned?"

"No," Takaya said. "They already know of our existence, and I am sure they have inferred our quarrel with them by now. There is no reason to confront them at this point in time. Our priority should be on the Shadow our benefactor asked us to destroy. There is significance to that one…"

"As long as we ain't actually killing it," Jin grumbled.

The door clicked open, and Jin turned in time to see Chidori step through and then quickly walk into the room. Her expression was as unreadable as always, but he couldn't help but see a measure of disgust in her eyes. As he opened his mouth to speak, Takaya spoke up.

"You certainly took your time in returning to us tonight, Chidori. Did you intend to abandon us when we could have most used your talents?"

Chidori stopped and turned her head toward Takaya. She stared at him, her expression slowly losing its look of defiance until she closed her eyes and looked away.

"There was something I needed to take care of."

"I was not aware you had any other pressing engagements that night."

Chidori said nothing as she turned back toward the door. "Then I'm the only one who noticed the fault," she said vaguely. "I only stopped by to make sure you were still alive. Since you are, I'm leaving." And she walked back through the door and shut it behind her, leaving Takaya and Jin alone in the room. Jin sighed and collapsed into his computer chair. Why'd she even bother stopping by if she was just going to leave again?

"She can do what she wishes for now. She will join us when she understands our need for her," Takaya said. He bowed his head, putting a hand to his forehead, the heel of his hand covering one eye. He groaned as he slumped over further.

"Damn, go to bed already." Jin grumbled. He swiveled his chair back toward the computer. Now he had to go tell the client that they hadn't been able to kill Kirijo like they said they were going to. What he would have given to have gotten his hands around her neck himself. They were all a bunch of hypocrites, but Kirijo was the worst of them all.

As he pulled his headphones up over his ears, he heard the creak of the couch behind him and turned to see that Takaya had laid down on it. Sighing, Jin turned back toward his computer and pulled up their website. Another Dark Hour had come and gone, the night had grown old, and Jin Shirato still had work to do. Typical.


	23. A Child's Justice

"This is the place?" Hamuko asked.

The tunnel before them seemed to go on forever. A damp, musty smell wafted up from the bottom of the tunnel, likely from years of accumulated rainwater.

Like always, Fuuka had detected a giant Shadow on the night of the full moon, but unlike the usual cases, she couldn't quite pinpoint its location, as it was apparently several meters underground. It was Aigis who'd figured out where the Shadow was, and led them to the entrance to this tunnel: a hidden door in the back of a rotted-out warehouse in North Iwatodai. The doors had already been forced open by the time they got there, clearly torn them off their hinges by the Shadow.

"Yes. The target should be around here," Fuuka said. The group spread out around the entrance, waiting for Hamuko to make the first call on what they should do. The mechanisms around Aigis' wrists had come open, revealing all kinds of mechanics on the inside that Hamuko didn't quite understand. Best she could tell, she was inspecting her guns.

Her eyes eventually rested upon Minato. He was standing nearby the shelter's entrance, looking rather uncomfortable. Every now and then, he'd glance back at the doors, as if he was expecting something.

"Something up?" Hamuko asked.

"No... it's nothing," Minato said. He turned toward the doors again and frowned. Hamuko decided to leave him be and turn back toward the others. This was the first proper operation they'd gone on since the incident with Strega. With Junpei in the hospital, they were going to be down a man... but they had Koromaru to help them out too. This would probably go okay.

She glanced toward Mitsuru. She stood against the wall of the tunnel, wiping her rapier down with a cloth.

Nervously, Hamuko looked away. She hefted her naginata against her shoulder and paced back toward the tunnel's entrance. Yeah... hopefully this would do okay.

"Ah!" Fuuka suddenly cried out. "The Shadow's moving! I think it's noticed us!"

"We should get moving as well," Mitsuru said. "Arisato, are you ready?"

Hamuko nodded. Right. It was now or never.

"Okay, let's go everyone!"

* * *

The night had passed in an instant. Until a few moments ago, Shinjiro had been standing against the alley wall, listening to some punk talk shit about his girlfriend. The girl, Shinjiro had met a couple of times, but she'd been a forgettable punk had been smoking a cigarette, and for once, Shinjiro decided not to get on his ass about it. If the guy was going to burn his lungs out, then he could be an idiot on his own, and Shinjiro could stand somewhere far outside the cloud of smoke.

The smell of smoke disappeared with the man when the Dark Hour fell, the cigarette entering his coffin with him. The dim lights from apartments and stores went out immediately, casting the alley into darkness as blood began to ooze from the brick walls. Shinjiro grunted and turned his head toward the sky, scowling up at the full and swollen moon. The world had fallen completely still around him. If it was a full moon, then that meant _they_ were out risking their lives tonight, probably fighting one of those big Shadows that Aki couldn't shut up about.

With a sigh, Shinjiro stepped away from the wall, walking toward the alley's exit. He hadn't planned on still being out when the Dark Hour fell, but he'd just let the night get away from him. Wasn't like the group here would notice that he'd left; far as he could tell, they never did. Probably easier for them to assume he'd wandered off while no one was looking.

If he was being honest, he'd never really cared for the crowd that hung out back there. They were always finding something new to bitch or scream about, just because they didn't have anything better to do. But better to sit and stew with them than waste his time at Gekkoukan, and anyone who bothered him while he was there quickly learned not to. It left him free to sit and think on what he'd done right there two years ago.

He climbed the stairs out of the alley and into the plaza in front of the train station. The sound of waves lapping against the island's artificial shore was far louder than normal without the sound of people and machines to drown it out. Not that Shinjiro really wanted to take a look; two years of this bullshit had taken away any awe he had toward the bloody bay. At this point, he just wanted to make it back to his apartment over on the mainland. Since the trains were stopped, he could just take the short way over the tracks instead of walking all the way over to the Moonlight Bridge.

He crossed the plaza toward the grand staircase, and began to ascend it. It was when he reached the first landing that he stopped.

There was a kid sitting at the bench overlooking the bay. Probably in elementary school. What the hell was he doing here?

He approached the kid, his steel-toed boots clacking against the ground with every step. After the first few steps, the kid turned around and stared at him over the back of the bench. Shinjiro kept walking, only stopping once he was a couple feet behind him, so he could talk to him directly. Yeah, definitely an elementary school kid; he didn't have that look of dumb defiance middle schoolers always had. Something about this kid was giving him the chills, though. Had to be the face. There was just something uncomfortably familiar about it.

"You shouldn't be out here. It's dangerous at this time of night," Shinjiro said matter-of-factly.

The kid turned his head away and looked back out at the bay. "I know that," he said. He didn't look weirdly focused on anything, and he didn't look dizzy or anything, so he probably hadn't been dragged here by a Shadow. Probably had the Potential, then.

For a moment, Shinjiro thought about lecturing this kid about the dangers of wandering outside during the Dark Hour, but he decided to save it. Like hell he had time for that.

"Look, it ain't safe for a kid to be out during the Dark Hour. Lemme take you home," Shinjiro said.

Surprisingly, the kid didn't object, instead standing up and nodding. "Okay."

So much for walking along the tracks... it was one thing if the Dark Hour ended while he was out there. But if he was slowed down like this, then there was a very real risk that the trains might start back up while they were out there... No, definitely too risky. Looked like it was Moonlight Bridge or nothing tonight, then. "Alright then... Where do you live?" Shinjiro said.

"In Iwatodai. There's a dorm I'm staying at with some Gekkoukan students," the kid said. Shinjiro began to walk down the stairs, and the kid followed after him, taking quick steps so that he could stay in step with him.

"One of them named Akihiko Sanada?"

The kid's eyes lit up. "You know Sanada-senpai?"

"Yeah. We used to be friends."

They walked out of the plaza out onto the sidewalk, the kid continuing to keep step with Shinjiro as they followed the road. Shinjiro gave the coffins in the road a wide berth as he wormed his way through the crowd. They passed into Tartarus' shadow as they walked, and irritably, Shinjiro glanced over his shoulder toward it. What the hell were Aki and Mitsuru doing, anyways? It was bad enough that they'd done all of this shit as middle schoolers, but now they were getting an even younger kid involved.

"...Is something wrong?" the kid asked.

"Nothin'. Let's go," Shinjiro said, swinging his head back toward the road. The air tonight felt charged somehow. The less time they spent around Tartarus right now, the better. Silently, Shinjiro turned the corner onto Main Street, the kid following after.

"...So, you got a name?"

"Yeah. I'm Ken Amada."

"Shit." The word was out of Shinjiro's mouth before he could stop himself.

"H-Huh?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it. I'm Shinjiro Aragaki."

Dammit. God sure had a funny sense of humor...

Unconsciously, Shinjiro picked up the pace a bit. The more they walked, the more the oppressive atmosphere gathered around them. He could hear whispers on the wind, whispers that quickly grew into a loud murmur. The voices of Shadows, obviously, but even for a full moon, this seemed a bit much. Whatever was going on, one thing was obvious: _something_ was coming.

"Do you feel that?" Ken suddenly asked.

"Feel what?"

"It just got really cold all of the sudden..." Ken wrapped his arms around himself. Shinjiro stopped, frowning, and looked around.

"...We shouldn't stay here," Shinjiro said.

A loud, awful creaking rang through the night. Shinjiro swung toward the sound in time to see a puddle of black sludge rise from a building's shadow. At first, it moved like a waterfall in reverse, but the body quickly gained a more definite shape. It was huge, bigger than any other Shadow he'd ever run into. Maybe something like twenty meters tall. Most of its body length was taken up by its long, thin torso and its disproportionately long arms, which hung down close to the ground. It stood on comparatively small legs that couldn't have carried a normal man, and carried a small sword in one hand. He could barely see it in the darkness, but Shinjiro could definitely make out a purple, crown-shaped mask on its face.

It took an awkward step toward Shinjiro, its armor creaking in protest with every movement. It felt like it shouldn't have been able to move, and yet, he could sense that it moved anyways, just out of some kind of forced bravado. Like it had to prove its strength to everyone there.

With a loud creak, it raised its sword into the air. From his right, there was a bright flash of light.

"GET DOWN!"

He didn't think, didn't feel anything as he threw himself over Ken. He felt a tearing sensation through his back as the two of them hit the asphalt, and at the same instant, intense heat radiated all over the area, followed by two more explosions. Shinjiro could feel blood flowing from the long cut on his back.

"You alright?" Shinjiro rasped out. He pushed himself up, and the kid scooted out from under him. Ken nodded.

At the sound of a fourth explosion, Shinjiro turned around. The Shadow was staggering, but didn't seem particularly injured from the attacks. A man in a green bomber jacket ran out from an alleyway, an Evoker in hand.

"That's not going to work," Chidori said as she stepped out of the alley after him.

"Dammit, I know that!" Jin snapped. Takaya walked out after the two of them, sighing.

"It seems that leaving it alive for so long has allowed it to become even stronger," he muttered. He raised his pistol toward the Shadow and fired it a few times. The Shadow recoiled with every strike, the bullets piercing through its armor like it was gelatin. Jin suddenly turned back toward Shinjiro and Ken.

"What the hell are you doing?! Get going!" Jin snapped. Shinjiro winced as he pushed himself to his feet. Ken scrambled up after him as Shinjiro ran off toward the alley entrance.

He made it about a block down the street before the pain in his back forced him to stop. He waved a hand toward Ken weakly as he leaned against the wall of a building. The kid stopped in front of him, a look of concern plain on his face. Shinjiro could feel heat gathering in his back, coupled with the unpleasant sensation of flesh slowly stitching back together. Even with it suppressed, that damn Persona of his was still trying to keep him alive...

"Are you alright, Aragaki-san?" Ken asked. Shinjiro nodded.

"Just gimme a moment. You're not hurt, right?"

"I'll be okay," Ken said. His knees were a little scraped up, but he didn't look too bad. "What about you? That cut on your back looked really bad..."

"I'm fine. It'll heal."

Already, he could feel the flow of blood slowing as the wound started to scab over. As long as he didn't exert himself too much more, it would be good as new before the end of the hour. From back in the direction of the fight, he could hear gunshots and yells. "We need to go. Those guys back there are holding it off, but they're not the type to stick around and fight. If we don't hurry, that thing'll be back on us in no time."

"Okay," Ken said. Shinjiro pushed himself up off of the wall, and slowly began to limp down the road. As much as he would have preferred to sit and wait for his wounds to heal, they just didn't have the time. Ken followed closely, not saying much of anything.

Their best option at this point was to keep walking toward the bridge. They'd probably be fine once they made it across the bay; big Shadows like that didn't like moving too far from where they nested. Most dangerous part would be crossing the bridge itself. It would mean exposing themselves, making them easy targets. It would take too long to double back toward the station, though...

Why _was_ Strega out here, anyways? He didn't think they'd just jumped in to save him. They weren't like that. Had to be some other reason...

They exited the alley onto the road, and Shinjiro had to stop. He leaned up against the wall of the building and stood there, unmoving.

"Are you alright?" Ken asked again. There was a look of genuine concern in his eyes.

"Just gimme a moment."

Shinjiro closed his eyes. The sounds of battle had gone quiet. Part of him just wanted to hole up and wait for the Dark Hour to end, but that was a bad idea. The full moon meant that even smaller Shadows were out prowling the roads, and it was entirely possible a smaller one would ambush them while they were hiding from the big one.

At the sound of footsteps from behind him, his eyes snapped open again. He turned toward the alley they'd just exited.

Slowly making their way down the path, with Takaya's limp body supported between them, were Jin and Chidori. Takaya's eyes were closed, and his hair was damp with blood, but he was still breathing. The other two looked equally worse for wear; Jin was bleeding from a gash on his leg, while blood oozed from a nasty looking gash on Chidori's forehead. As they approached, Shinjiro noticed that the gash was getting just a tiny bit smaller with every step she took.

Jin suddenly looked up toward Shinjiro and Ken. "You guys are still here?" he asked incredulously.

"What happened to him?" Shinjiro asked.

"That _idiot_ let his Persona go out of control, and ended up takin' a bad hit 'cause of it," Jin said, scowling. "Look, we're gettin' out of here. If you guys don't wanna get killed, then you'd better do the same."

Ken took a step forward, but Shinjiro moved so he was standing slightly in front of him. The kid looked up at him questioningly, but Shinjiro shook his head. He had an idea what the kid was thinking, but that wouldn't help right now.

Chidori turned to look directly at Shinjiro. "Its body changes periodically. If you can't hurt it, then try something else before it changes again."

"Right. I'll keep it in mind," Shinjiro said. If they were lucky, they wouldn't have to fight it at all. Wasn't going to count out the possibility, though.

"Chidori, come on. Let's go," Jin said. She and Jin slowly began to walk again down the road. Shinjiro let them walk for a good distance before stepping back into the alleyway they'd come down.

Ken followed him for a good distance before speaking up again.

"Why didn't you let me ask them for help?"

"They're not the kind of guys you wanna be in debt to."

Ken nodded solemnly. Kid probably knew the dangers of being in debt to the wrong people all too well. Families who had it all together didn't tend to live near seedy Port Island alleyways.

They passed through the alley, taking a turn off onto another road as soon as the path opened up. Since he hadn't heard the Shadow for a while now, he had to assume it hadn't spotted them yet, which gave them some time to make it toward the bridge. They passed by shuttered storefronts and empty convenience stores, occasionally detouring to avoid a smaller Shadow he saw lurking the road.

After a while, Ken spoke up again. "I'm sorry about your back."

Shinjiro stopped and turned toward the kid. He shook his head. "I told you, it's fine."

"But it's my fault you got hurt..." Ken said. He clenched his fists, and his voice began to shake. "...I got scared. Wh-When my mom died, it was almost the same way... she threw herself over me, and then... I couldn't do anything back then either... Ha, I'm useless..."

A lump fell into Shinjiro's stomach. He let out a sigh and crouched down in front of Ken, so he was on eye level with him. Cheering kids up wasn't exactly his specialty, but he had a feeling that if he didn't say something now, the stupid kid was going to run off and do something he was going to regret.

"Look. Your mom did that 'cause she wanted you to keep living on, even if it meant she had to die for it. So whatever you're thinkin' of doing, stop it," Shinjiro said sternly. "If you really don't wanna see somethin' like that again, then become strong enough that you can protect yourself. Just... y'know, don't overdo it like that meathead Aki."

The kid unclenched his fists, but said nothing. Shinjiro decided not to push it, and he straightened up slowly. "...Come on. We're not far."

* * *

The rest of the walk was in complete silence. It had become easier for Shinjiro to walk after a while, as his wound had stopped oozing blood. The kid hadn't said anything else; maybe he felt guilty about earlier. Shinjiro sure as hell felt guilty about earlier. Where the hell did he get off on on giving life advice to this kid?

The tall supports of the Moonlight Bridge came into view, and Shinjiro motioned for Ken to stop walking. He strained his ears, listening for that tell-tale sound of creaking iron joints. There was nothing.

"Right... guess it's safe," Shinjiro said.

The two of them stepped out into the road. Shinjiro looked around, checking the corners of buildings to make sure nothing was lurking. He didn't see anything...

And then the telltale sound of creaking metal rang through the night air.

"Go!" Shinjiro yelled at Ken, and the kid dashed over toward the bridge's walkway as the massive Shadow lumbered out from behind a building. Damn thing must have been lying in wait for them! The massive monstrosity was oozing black sludge from its armor, and seemed to be stumbling. The Shadow locked eyes with him, staying completely still... and then it took a quick step forward.

Shinjiro dashed across the road toward a bus stop. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the sword smash into the ground where he'd been standing moments before. It had gotten slower since the last time they'd encountered it... but it was still more than fast enough to kill.

It swung toward him again, and this time Shinjiro ducked to his left. The blade swung through the bus stop's sign, cleaving the pole in two and sending it clattering to the ground next to him. He glanced toward where Ken stood on the bridge. "Move!" Shinjiro yelled as the sword swung for him again. He ducked down under the swipe and grasped the fallen sign by its pole. It was a hell of a lot heavier than it looked, but it would do right now. He hefted it up toward the Shadow's sword. Sign met blade, and the sword was deflected away.

Seeing an opening, Shinjiro swung the sign toward the Shadow's chest. It's breastplate caved in upon impact, and the Shadow stumbled backwards as Shinjiro swung at it again, this time aiming for its knees.

"Look out!" Ken cried.

Shinjiro looked up in time to see the Shadow shove him back. He stumbled, but remained standing as the Shadow regained its balance. It lifted its sword to its chest and a ring of multicolored light appeared before quickly disappearing again. With no time to think about it, Shinjiro swung the sign toward the Shadow's body again, only for it to deflect off of its armor this time.

"Shit!" Shinjiro yelled as he backed up. The Shadow swung the back of its arm toward Shinjiro, knocking him off his feet. For a brief second, he was airborne, and then his back hit the asphalt again, his wound from earlier instantly splitting open upon impact.

A shadow fell over Shinjiro, and he realized this was the end. He was stunned, he couldn't move, and he couldn't fight back. This was it.

_**"Aragaki-san!"** _

The sound of shattering glass reverberated through the air.

A massive bolt of electricity descended from the sky and struck the Shadow. The road and the bridge became illuminated by an unnatural light. The Shadow's death wail rang out through the air, boring through Shinjiro's head. He pushed himself up on one arm, shielding his eyes with the other. The massive, continuous bolt of lightning continued to envelop the Shadow, tearing away its armor until the Shadow finally began to dissolve.

When the light finally faded, all that was left was a black stain on the ground, the heavily breathing Ken, and the massive form of Ken's Persona.

It was a massive angular figure, its body arranged in a perverse mockery of the human anatomy. A massive buzzsaw ran around its body cutting through where the Persona's head and groin would have been, while a grinning face lay upon its torso.

All Shinjiro could do was stare up at it in fear.

"I... I did it... I was able to save someone..." Ken breathed. Suddenly, his Persona shattered into a million fragments of glass, the kid's eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed to the ground.

_"Ken!"_

Shinjiro scrambled to his feet and dashed over to the kid, dropping to his knees beside him. Quickly, Shinjiro put his hand in front of his nose, and then on his forehead. Still breathing, wasn't feverish... He'd just passed out. That was it. He'd just overexerted himself. Of course he had, stupid kid had summoned his Persona without even using an Evoker...

A Persona like that... Shinjiro let out a sigh. That kind of Persona shouldn't have come out of the head of a little kid... that was his fault too, wasn't it?

He picked up the kid, and then slowly worked him onto his back and into a piggyback position. He winced a bit from the pain; Castor's regeneration had already stopped the bleeding again, but the wound was still all too tender. It was easier to give him a piggyback ride than try to carry him in his arms all the way back to Iwatodai though. And he'd promised to take him home, after all...

* * *

"Ikutsuki!"

Shinjiro hammered on the door to the dormitory with one clenched fist. Asshole had to be here; he _always_ was when they were off on their "operations". Shinjiro hammered on the door again, harder, and hopefully loud enough that Ikutsuki could hear it from wherever he was holed up.

Ken hadn't woken up at all during the walk over, which wasn't that unexpected. Most important thing now was to get him inside and to safety... unfortunately, some _asshole_ had decided to lock the dorm's front door before everyone left.

As Shinjiro started contemplating ways to bash down the double doors while carrying an unconscious child on his back, there was a click, and the door creaked open, revealing Ikutsuki standing on the other side. He stared down into Shinjiro's face, and then his gaze moved to Ken.

"...Well, I suppose I should get you two inside, shouldn't I?"

Shinjiro stepped through the doorway, and he heard the door click behind him as he stepped into the dorm. It had been two years, but everything still looked the same as it had when he'd first left. Same rug leading to the stairway at the other end of the room, same couches and chairs around the same glass table, same dining hall by the kitchen.

Ikutsuki walked past him toward the lounge, and Shinjiro took a moment to look at him. He hadn't changed either. Same mop of hair, same glasses, same coat, same stupid look on his face.

He took a seat in the armchair at the end of the table, folding his hands in his lap. Shinjiro stepped around the couches and laid Ken down on the couch furthest from the door, and then pulled off his jacket, laying it over Ken like a blanket. Would have been better to get an actual blanket, but not a lot of Shinjiro's blood had actually made it onto the jacket. It would do for now. He laid a hand on Ken's shoulder as the kid slowly breathed.

"What the hell were you doing getting that kid involved?!" Shinjiro snapped. He lifted his head toward Ikutsuki, glaring.

Ikutsuki flinched backward at the outburst, but he quickly recovered. With a wince, he said, "Now, now, Shinjiro. You and I both know that's not quite the case. Why don't you sit down for a moment so we can talk, okay?"

A talk. Of course. Shinjiro kept up the glare as he walked over to the armchair opposite Ikutsuki and took a seat. Once he'd sat down, Ikutsuki regained his smile and said, "Now, first of all, why don't you tell me about what happened tonight?"

Without any further objections, Shinjiro started to recount the events of the night. From meeting Ken on his way back to his apartment, to being attacked by the massive Shadow, to Strega rescuing them, to Ken eventually summoning his own Persona to rescue him. Ikutsuki listened quietly, quizzically raising an eyebrow at the mention of Strega. As Shinjiro described Ken's Persona, Ikutsuki gained a look of concern.

"He summoned a Persona without an Evoker? It's no surprise he's been asleep for so long, then. Summoning a Persona without an Evoker can be extremely taxing on the mind and body," Ikutsuki said. "I'll make sure we have him taken to the hospital after the Dark Hour ends, so don't worry about a thing."

"Tch..." Shinjiro rubbed at his arms uncomfortably. He could feel a shiver working its way into his bones. "You're so concerned about protectin' him now, but you still brought him here?"

"Calm down, Shinjiro... I told you I'd explain, didn't I?"

Ikutsuki gained a wry smile as Shinjiro rubbed at his arms. Old bastard probably knew exactly what was up with him. Well, Shinjiro didn't particularly give a damn what Ikutsuki thought about it.

"Yes, I asked Amada-kun to stay at this dormitory over the summer. It was partially so that we could observe him, but it was also so we could protect him. As Amada-kun lives at the elementary school's dormitory, he would have been alone for the duration of summer break, which would put him at risk of Shadow attack," Ikutsuki explained. "The fact is, he would have been 'involved' no matter what we did! After all, he has the Potential, and the capacity to enter the Dark Hour with it."

He smiled sadly at Ken. "Though, I suppose I should have been more observant of him. It's possible I could have prevented this from happening..."

"No shit," Shinjiro grumbled.

"In truth, I had been considering asking Amada-kun to join SEES. Now, it will be entirely up to him as to whether he joins, of course. I would not think of forcing someone as young as him to risk his life for our cause," Ikutsuki said. "However, he has a rather concerning depressive streak. I don't know if it's explicitly linked to what happened with his mother, but I don't believe it's entirely disconnected."

There was nothing Shinjiro could say to that. He put his hands back into his pants pockets, idly fingering the bottle of pills in his left pocket.

"What happened with Amada's mother was a terrible incident. But I believe if someone's there to help him along, he may be able to overcome it. Perhaps..."

"Save it."

Shinjiro stood up and scowled at Ikutsuki. This was underhanded, even for him. It was clear to Shinjiro now; he'd brought Ken here to try and guilt him back into joining SEES. Were they really hurting for new blood that badly? It hadn't seemed so, but maybe the new kids just weren't meeting their standards.

...Maybe he was just being paranoid, though. If he really did come back and fight alongside that kid, when he was the one responsible for his mother's death... would that come even close to atoning for what he'd done?

He let out a sigh as the front door clicked open. "...Whatever. I'll think about it. If you-"

"Aragaki?!" Mitsuru cried.

Shinjiro turned toward the door and found himself facing a small army of Gekkoukan students, headed by Mitsuru and Akihiko. As they stepped inside, the building's lights flickered on, marking the end of the Dark Hour. None of them particularly seemed to notice. Everyone was drenched in sweat and obviously injured. The two brunettes had scuffs and burns on their faces that Shinjiro recognized as being magically-healed burns. Ikutsuki raised a hand in greeting as Shinjiro walked toward the door.

He stopped in front of Mitsuru and Aki and glanced over the group. Aside from Blondie and the dog, he'd seen everyone here before. The guy with the baseball cap wasn't there, though. Had he gotten cold feet and left?

"Why are you here, Shinji...?" Akihiko asked.

"Doin' your job for you," Shinjiro said irritably. "That Amada kid decided to go on a midnight run and got attacked by a big one you guys missed. Weren't you all supposed to be keepin' an eye on him?"

The teal-headed chick and the brunette with a bow let out gasps, almost in perfect sync. Apparently they hadn't bothered looking around until now, because Brunette only just now ran over toward the couch. The others remained where they were, the brunette in barrettes giving Shinjiro a pretty hard glare.

"How long are you gonna let that kid keep goin' without knowin' the truth, Aki?" Shinjiro hissed. "He's got a Persona. It's not gonna take him long to connect the dots."

"That's-" Akihiko started, but Shinjiro raised a hand to stop him.

"Forget it. I'm leavin'. Mitsuru, if you can get my jacket fixed up, I'd appreciate it," Shinjiro said. He stepped past the group toward the door, his gaze lingering on the still glaring Barrettes and the blue-haired guy in the back of the group for just a moment. His eyes and Blue-hair's met for just a moment, but all he saw in them was resigned exhaustion. None of the defiance this guy had shown back at the hospital.

Without another word to anyone, Shinjiro stepped past them and out the door, the siren of an approaching ambulance ringing through the night. He shivered just a bit in the cool summer air as he began the long walk back to his apartment.


	24. Life, Takoyaki, and Summer Festivities

Room 251 was at the end of the hall on the hospital's second floor, and had become something of an unofficial home for the members of SEES while they were injured. When Minato and Hamuko had been in the hospital after the first time they'd summoned their Personas, they'd been stuck down here, far from any prying eyes and eavesdroppers. Now, for not the first time since Junpei's hospitalization, Minato found himself standing in front of the towering sliding door, gathering his words.

Minato felt a tap at his shoulder, and he turned toward Hamuko. "Don't be so hard on yourself," Hamuko said as she slid the door open. Sliding his hands into his pockets, Minato stepped into the room after her.

"Oh, it's you guys!" a child's voice called out over the room. Minato raised his head to look over Hamuko as she stepped forward, and caught sight of Ken sitting in the cot next to Junpei's. Junpei raised his head from the manga he was reading and grinned at them.

"Damn, I thought you were the doctor here to lecture me again," Junpei said. It had been a couple weeks since Junpei had first been brought here, but Minato still couldn't get used to how he looked in a hospital gown. Without a baseball cap and t-shirt, Junpei looked naked.

"Nah," Minato said. He pulled a chair out from the wall and took a seat between Ken and Junpei's beds. Hamuko sat down on the end of Ken's bed, pressing her palms into the end of the couch. She grinned at Junpei.

"So, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"Like a sack of bricks," Junpei said. "But, I'm doin' a hell of a lot better than I was when I first got here. The doctor says I was lucky; normally gettin' hit the way I did woulda broken my spine. And for some reason, he keeps lecturing me about 'knowing when to run' and 'not having a death wish'."

"That's because Yukari told him you got mauled by a bear," Minato said, smiling.

"What is this, kindergarten...?" Junpei groaned. "Wish I coulda been there for the operation the other night, but the doc says he wants to keep me here for another few days, and he doesn't want me exerting myself too much for about a month afterward. I'm gonna go crazy if I have to sit around the whole time, man..."

"It's fine," Minato said.

"Besides, we had Koromaru to fill in for you!" Hamuko offered.

Junpei blinked at her. "Whaaaat? How does he even use a Persona? He doesn't have any thumbs."

"Mitsuru got him fitted with a special collar a few days before the operation, so he can use that to summon his Persona!"

"Dude, that's so messed up..."

While Hamuko and Junpei debated the merits of a persona-using dog, Minato turned to the still silent Ken. For the entirety of this conversation, he'd been sitting quietly, not saying a word. Minato couldn't blame him; this was probably all really overwhelming. Not only that, but while they were all off fighting another Shadow, Ken had been wandering the streets of Port Island...

As Junpei and Hamuko's conversation tapered off, Junpei turned toward Ken and frowned. "So, uh, Ken-kun's a Persona-user too, huh...? I heard he had the potential, but... damn."

"Yeah, I was surprised too. How are you feeling, by the way, Ken-kun?" Hamuko asked.

"Huh? I'm fine. My head still hurts a little, but I'm okay," Ken said. He smiled just a small bit, and Minato realized he was faking it.

"I'm surprised you're awake so soon, though. The first time I used my Persona, I was out for a whole week," Hamuko said. "Though that was, uh, a _special_ situation..."

"Huh? What happened?" Junpei asked. "You've never told me anything about that!"

"That's because Yukari says you went around telling everyone I got mauled by a bear while I was in the hospital!"

"C'mon, gimme the goods! I told you about when Akihiko found me cryin' like a baby, so you can at _least_ tell me 'bout this!"

Minato sighed and turned toward Ken, leaning in. "Hey, about that Shadow you fought that night... can you tell me about it?"

Ken nodded. "It was tall, almost as tall as a building. Its face was covered by a mask, and at the top, the mask had these points. Like a crown. There were Roman numerals on the face of the mask too, but I couldn't read them from the ground. I think it carried a sword too... and for some reason, this circle of light kept showing up in front of it. I think that girl said that it was because it was changing itself..."

Minato bowed his head. He'd suspected as much, but now he was sure about it: the Shadow Ken and Shinjiro had run into had to be the Emperor Shadow he'd let go all those months ago.

"Wait, a girl?" Junpei said. He leaned over on his bed. "There was a girl there too?"

"Junpei?" Minato asked.

Junpei leaned back in his bed, rubbing his head a bit. "Sorry, I was just thinkin'... back when we were fightin' that Shadow, before I passed out, I remember... this girl walked into the shrine... and then I passed out like right after she showed up. I thought I was just dreamin', but..."

Ken gained a morose expression, and he turned toward Minato, as if asking for instruction on how to proceed, when the door to the room slid open behind them, and Ken's expression immediately brightened.

"Aragaki-senpai!"

Minato turned to the door, where Shinjiro was standing in the doorway. He wore a plain black jacket over a turtleneck, and Minato realized that, aside from the night of the recent operation, this was the first time he'd ever seen Shinjiro without the heavy peacoat he usually wore. His peacoat must have still been at the tailor's.

Shinjiro's scowl softened as he stepped into the room, smiling as he walked up to Ken. "So I'm your senpai now, huh?" her said, chuckling.

Junpei leaned over toward Hamuko and whispered. "Uh, is there somethin' goin' on between those two...?"

"Aragaki-san was the one who helped Ken out when they got attacked by Shadows," Hamuko explained.

Ken grinned, but quickly took on a more professional tone as he spoke to Shinjiro. "I wanted to thank you for helping me out that night. If it weren't for you, I probably would have..."

Shinjiro placed his hand on Ken's head, and Ken gave a little gasp as Shinjiro ruffled his hair a bit. "Don't worry 'bout it," he said with a smile. His expression regained is usual seriousness. "You're feeling okay, right? Everything feels like it's under control?"

Ken nodded. "My head hurts a little, but other than that, I feel fine."

"Good. Things are gonna be confusin' for a while, but these guys can help you out," Shinjiro said. His expression softened again. "But right now, all you oughta worry about is gettin' better. Got that?"

 

"Yes sir," Ken said.

Minato could only blink in confusion at the scene before him. This scene was so far outside of his understanding of these two's relationship that he didn't even know how to react. What had happened between them that night?

"I'd better get goin', though. I just wanted t' stop by since I was in the area," Shinjiro said, scratching the back of his head. He turned to leave, but then stopped as he passed by Hamuko. "You're the leader of this bunch right? Keep him safe for me."

Hamuko nodded. "I will."

Shinjiro nodded to her, and then turned toward Minato and Junpei, his gaze resting on Minato for a moment before leaving, as if waiting for Minato to react somehow. When Minato remained standing still, without flinching, he left the room without another word.

"That was weird..." Junpei said. "Wonder why he couldn't stay?"

"Maybe he was busy with something?" Hamuko suggested.

"Maybe..." Minato said.

"Actually, we should probably leave soon too," Hamuko said. "I wanna go get my summer homework done tonight, before we're busy for the next week."

"Why're ya hurryin'? Just do it the day before vacation ends! That's what I do!" Junpei said, grinning.

"You haven't heard?" Hamuko asked. "We're in summer school now. Orders from Ms. Kirijo herself. Akihiko-senpai's supposed to be bringing your makeup work by every day so you have something to do while you're here."

"Are you serious?! This is the first I've heard of it!"

"The chairman agrees too. He wants to make sure we stay on top of our grades while we're saving the world," Minato added.

"Dude, this sucks!"

"You're telling me... I was kind of hoping that 'saving the world' meant I could get an out from cram school..." Hamuko said with a pout.

"Uh oh... I don't think I've done my summer homework yet either..." Ken said. He suddenly looked like the world was ending.

"Don't worry kid, your elementary school grades don't matter all that much anyways," Junpei said.

"Don't listen to Junpei," Hamuko said, as she covered her face with one hand. "Don't worry, I'll have Akihiko-senpai bring your work by too."

"Yeah, and you can ask me for help. I may not look like much, but I did make it to high school," Junpei said with a glowing grin.

"That's really not something to be proud of," Minato said.

The four of them traded a few more lines of conversation, and then Minato and Hamuko got up to leave, waving goodbye on their way out the door. The events of the previous nights were mostly forgotten in the face of their upcoming schoolwork, yet Minato still couldn't push away his the thoughts of Arcana Emperor's death...

These thoughts weighed on him so heavily that he didn't even notice Hamuko's expression becoming more and more pained as they approached the dorm that night, nor did he notice the awkward smile Hamuko gave Mitsuru as she greeted her on the way in.

The night pressed into morning, and the next day, their remedial classes began.

* * *

Minato stared up at the front of the classroom, his eyes half lidded, weighed down by droplets of sweat. A haze of summer heat had enveloped the school, trapped by glass windows that could only be half opened, letting in only the slightest of merciful breezes, just enough to pierce through the choking humidity and provide a moment's respite. And in those periods in between, he found himself praying, begging for a sudden snowstorm, or perhaps an act of God to rescue them from this cloud of overbearing humidity.

He glanced over his shoulder at the others in the room, chained to their desks by schoolwork and sweat. All of them, praying for this week of remedial work to come to an end, if only so they could return home to their electric fans, and for the precious, privileged few of them, sweet, precious air conditioning. Desperately, Minato's eyes shot toward the clock on the wall. The minute hand had ticked forward once from the last time he'd checked.

_This is never going to end!_

The door at the front of the room slid open, and with an unsteady gait, the gangly, hunched over form of Mr. Edogawa, the school nurse, stepped in. He kept one hand in his lab coat as he pushed his glasses up with one finger, murmuring under his breath as he approached the podium. Dimly, Minato noticed there was not a bead of sweat on Edogawa's face. He'd sworn off of Edogawa's "concoctions" for a while now, but if they could shield him from the heat, then maybe they weren't so bad...

"Alright, alright, let's get started... Xilka, Xilka, Besa, Besa..." Edogawa murmured. "You're all doing quite well with your studies, but magic based on general knowledge is weak at best, and dangerous at worst. So today, we'll be focusing on the philosophical foundations behind magic. Particularly that of Ancient Greece."

Minato's hand hovered over his notebook, the pencil tip just barely touching the paper. He saw Hamuko lean over to Yukari and whisper something to her, prompting a giggle from Yukari. They were probably just as frustrated as everyone else that they had to have some of Edogawa's lectures even during summer studies. Maybe they were true on some level; his and Hamuko's personas came right out of the stuff Edogawa liked talking about, and he knew for a fact that gods (or at least one) existed now, so demons and magic didn't really seem all that out of the question.

"Last year, you should have all studied Greece's contributions to Western philosophy in your classes. Philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, and Thales were all Greek. Socrates was even said to have been the wisest of all men by Apollo's Oracle, who was herself a powerful priestess. But were it not for Prometheus, none of these men would have ever possessed the wisdom they grew to obtain."

The humidity blanketing him somehow felt soothing. A nap didn't seem like all that bad of an idea, really. He'd done it plenty of times before...

But none of those times had been during Kirijo-mandated study sessions. If Mitsuru found out he'd been slacking, Minato would suddenly find himself very intimate with how it felt to be an icicle. Quickly, he pressed his pencil's eraser into the bottom of his chin, hoping the pressure would keep him more alert.

"I'm sure the tale of Prometheus is familiar to the well studied among us, even if only from hearsay. After all, he is the one who granted humanity fire at great cost to himself. Before Prometheus, the gift of fire was kept safely guarded by Zeus. When Prometheus granted fire to man, he gave with it hope and knowledge, and with that came the power to choose our own fate. Whether or not that was a blessing or a curse depends upon your perspective... Eeeheehee..."

 _Choose our own fate..._ Minato thought dimly. His eyelids were starting to droop again. Something about Edogawa's voice was luring him to sleep. Maybe a five minute nap would be okay...

"Much of the worship of Prometheus took place in Athens, the birthplace of many of our famous Greek philosophers. He was a popular subject in Greek culture for many centuries,and the attitudes his sacrifice inspired became the foundation for Greek philosophy... as well as an inspiration for the occult. As a Titan, Prometheus had few temples outside of Athens, so he was worshiped in secret by his cultists, and it wasn't long before priestesses consigned to purity became sorceresses in his name. In contrast,the cults of Apollo and Orpheus were able to move openly among the populace, and remained purer in intention for it..."

Minato lifted his gaze to the clock on the wall. Fifteen minutes had passed... at this rate, it was going to be forever before class ended.

"Prometheus remained a figure of great interest within Western traditions. In the Renaissance, he came to represent creativity and innocation, as well as humanity's trumph over the tyrannical law of religion. The theme stuck particularly well with the sorcerers of the time, who were often persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church... though, perhaps we should speak of them at another time. Some even believe that Prometheus was the first Messiah, and that his tale was adapted into the stories of Christ and Job."

A new droplet of sweat dripped onto Minato's eyelids, and in an instant, he knew this was it. This was the limit of his endurance. The choking heat haze had won. With little fanfare, his eyes drooped closed, he laid his arms against the table, and he buried his nose into his notebook with a loud snore.

* * *

"I don't think I've ever seen Edogawa cast so many curses at once before."

"Don't rub it in."

"I'm serious, you might want to go kiss up to him or something," Hamuko said. As the group of them passed by a bookstore, she briefly stopped to wave to the elderly couple tending the storefront before they continued. "Or your children might be born as... uh... what did he call them?" She turned toward Yukari, who angrily squinted up at the sun as she wiped her brow.

"I honestly wasn't paying that much attention," she said. "Ugh, why is it so _hot?"_

"Chupacabras," Minato grumbled. He didn't want to admit it, but for some time now, he'd felt something heavy grasping onto his shoulders. The weight of some devilish curse, or maybe a demon that had been conjured upon him... he was pretty sure he'd heard some of his former Personas' names in that chant Edogawa had thrown at him. No matter how fake Edogawa's magic probably was, it was also probably a bad idea to look over his shoulder right now.

"So anyways, the summer festival's in a few days! Do you guys have dates yet?" Yukari asked.

"Uh," Minato said dumbly.

Hamuko tapped the side of her chin as she answered. "Well, I know Rio's going with Kenji-"

"Oh, did she finally ask him out?" Yukari asked.

"You knew about that already?"

"Everyone could see it. She's been making eyes at him ever since freshman year."

"I thought Kenji had a thing for Ms. – for older women," Minato asked as they approached the road. They stopped at a crosswalk and waited for the light to change.

"He totally does, but Rio ended up guilting him into it by reminding him that they're childhood friends, and that he should at least give her this since they never hang out anymore," Yukari said. "Anyways, they're going together, and I think Fuuka and that Natsuki girl are going together, and, uh... Mitsuru-senpai was talking about taking Aigis...?"

"Is it really okay for her to go outside as much as she has been?" Hamuko asked, grimacing. The crosswalk's light began to flash before turning green, and the three of them crossed the road and began to walk down the sidewalk again.

"I think it's supposed to be a test, to see if she's ready to go out in public. I guess Mitsuru-senpai figures that there'll be enough people around that no one will really pay all that much attention if Aigis is acting weird. Anyways, what about you guys?"

"I was going to see if Fuuka was free, but I guess not," Minato said.

"I'm going with, uh..." Hamuko frowned as she put a finger to her lip. "I guess I'd call him a friend of mine?"

"You _guess?"_ Yukari asked incredulously.

"It's a bit hard to explain..." Hamuko said sheepishly as they approached the front of the dorm.

"Well, whatever. Oh yeah, speaking of school stuff, did you hear that rumor someone made about Ms. Ounishi?" Yukari asked as they walked up the front stairwell and through the door.

"No, what?"

 _"Supposedly_ one of the third-years walked in on her making out with that creepy anatomy model in the science lab a couple weeks back. That's so dumb, I can't even make fun of it. How immature can people get?"

"I thought she got rid of it a little too easily..." Hamuko mumbled.

"Huh?"

"N-Nothing?" Hamuko said, grinning.

They passed through the dorm and up the stairs. Minato parted with the other two at the second floor landing before heading to his room.

* * *

The next few days of study hall proceeded uneventfully, without too many more incidents of sleep related curses (and when he did fall asleep, he made sure to angle himself so he wouldn't be as likely to snore). When the day of the festival came, Minato was thoroughly exhausted, and had planned on sleeping for most of the day... so when his phone rang at the thoroughly early hour of nine in the morning, he was not in any particular mood to interact with people.

When the phone continued to ring, Minato forced himself to pull his face out of his pillow, and found himself immediately greeted by sunlight shining directly into his face through the mop of hair currently covering it. With a grunt, he reached over and picked up his phone, bringing it to his face.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, it's Hamuko. Do you wanna come with me to the festival tonight?"_

"...Hurh?" he asked.

_"...Did I wake you up? You sound kind of groggy."_

"Uh, yeah." Minato sat up and gave a yawn. Once it passed, he said, "Anyways I thought you were going with someone already?"

_"I am, but he's... uh, a little hard to deal with? You'll see what I mean when you get there. Anyways, I'll see you tonight!"_

Before Minato could get another word in, there was a click from the other end of the line, which was quickly replaced by a droning dial tone. He groaned and shoved his face back into the pillow. Sure. Okay. Sounded like a plan to him.

* * *

When Minato stepped up to the shrine grounds that night, he was greeted by an explosion of color. The path leading to the shrine buildings that night was lined with lanterns and booths, all offering their own unique wares and games. Kids in anime masks scrambled to reach the front of the goldfish scooping booth while their parents chatted nearby, and couples in yukata and street clothes wandered together, their hands looped together as they ate street food and cotton candy. He scanned the crowd, frowning as he realized that he didn't see Hamuko anywhere. Was he early?

"Minato!"

He turned around as Hamuko and a familiar face stepped through the torii, and his eyes quickly widened.

Theodore held fast to Hamuko's hand as she took careful, shuddering steps up the stairs, stopping occasionally to test her stability on each step, making sure she could still carefully make her way up with the orange yukata she wore. Once they finally made it up, she relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Whoo. Okay. Made it," Hamuko said.

"Are you doing alright?" Minato asked. He suddenly understood quite clearly why Hamuko had asked him to come along. If Theodore was anything like his sister had been...

"Yeah, yeah, I just... haven't worn anything like this since I was a kid." She grinned up at him as she caught her breath. "It's kind of hard to get used to again!"

"Please do be careful. The art of walking in yukata is a rather difficult one... It would truly be awful if you came to undue harm during this celebration because of it.," Theodore said. Hamuko laughed a little, and then patted his arm a bit.

"Oh! My apologies..." Theodore quickly released Hamuko's hand before bowing his head to her.

"Why's he here?" Minato asked. It was rare for denizens of the Velvet Room to leave it without a good reason. When he'd gone places with Elizabeth, he'd always made sure to go when they were sufficiently empty, just so he could avoid any funny looks.

"I heard tell of a festival from Hamuko-san, and I became intrigued with it. After all, such a celebration of life, carried through the whole community, is truly intriguing... And yet, I feel some other presence here, different from that from the Shadows... In fact, I think it's behind you right now, Minato-san," Theodore said with a deadpan expression.

Minato's eyes widened, and he threw his hand over his shoulder, grasping at his back with one hand.

_Don't tell me, Edogawa's-_

"Hey, that's mean," Hamuko scolded, giving Theodore a hard glare.

"...Please don't look at me so. I was only joking," Theodore said, raising his hand to his mouth as to cover his smile. Minato's hand fell by his side, and awkwardly, he put it in his pants pocket as Theodore continued. "I believe that horror stories are a summer tradition in your world, correct?"

"Not during festivals," Hamuko said.

"I see... Ah, what is this?" Theodore suddenly and quickly strode over to the stand to their right. A line of airsoft rifles had been set up on a counter in front of a series of stepped platforms, each with a toy or stuffed animal set upon it. A middle aged man stood behind the counter, an insincere smile on his face as Theodore stepped up to it, Hamuko nervously following behind him. Theodore frowned as he looked over the stall, his eyes settling on each item in turn, before he finally turning around toward Hamuko, his face glowing with sincere joy.

"I hear that these are called 'carnival games'," Theodore said, "where visitors present monetary offerings for the illusion that impossible tasks are fair play."

The attendant's smile faltered for just a moment as Theodore reached into the pocket of his suit and pulled out a bulging wallet. With a quick flick of his fingers, the top popped open, revealing a gittering pile of 100-yen coins. The attendant's eyes bugged out as Theodore scooped five coins from the top and laid them on the counter.

"This should be sufficient for a few plays," he said. The attendant carefully scooped the coins into his hand as he stepped away from the targets.

"Knock yerself out, bucko," the attendant said. Theodore lifted the rifle in his hand, tossed it up and down a couple of times, and then lifted it to his shoulder, his stance impeccable.

Minato frowned and turned toward Hamuko. "Should we let him do it?"

"Do you think we could stop him?" Hamuko retorted as Theodore took his first shots at a stuffed bair, shooting it first in the head, and then in the chest. The bear teetered, but remained firmly put on its stand. Narrowing his eyes, Theodore shot the rifle three times more, striking the bear once in the shoulder, once in the knee, and once again in the shoulder. Again, the bear swayed on its stand. Once Theodore was out of bullets, the attendant came over, examined the bear, and shifted it back in place before turning toward him.

"Aww, too bad! You've got four more tries, if you wanna go again."

"Certainly. I am sure I will not fail this time," Theodore said. The attendant shrugged, and motioned for Theodore to hand the gun over. He quickly reloaded it and handed it back to Theodore before stepping back once more.

Without further ado, Theodore raised the rifle to his shoulder, closing one eye as he steadied it. His finger snapped down on the trigger five times in quick succession, the gun ringing out with five loud cracks in return. The ringing hadn't cleared from Minato's ears before the bear teetered, swayed, and toppled to the ground.

"How did you-" the attendant started, only to quickly replace the storeworker's grin on his face. "Well how 'bout that, sir! Congrats on winnin' the top prize!"

Theodore handed the rifle back to the attendant, who continued to falsely grin as he traded the rifle for the bear.

Minato gave an impressed whistle. "Nice job."

"It was a simple matter, really. The platforms are built in a deceptive manner that keeps their prizes from toppling quite as easily. Therefore, I observed the movement of the bear and applied the knowledge as necessary so it could lose its balance," Theodore said. He handed the bear over to Minato. "Now, shall we move on? I believe I saw other booths offering other activities."

* * *

Together, Hamuko, Minato, Theodore, and one obnoxiously large bear wandered through the festival stalls, bypassing all of the food stalls for the moment as they focused on the games. With his arms full of bear, Minato couldn't do much but watch as Theodore and Hamuko tried their hands at a couple of the more competitive games. Theodore continued to win his way through the stands, easily popping the balloons at the dart tossing game despite the weighted and dulled darts he'd been given, before moving on to the ring toss, which he naturally cleared first try as well.

After Theodore had managed to earn himself a small pile of stuffed animals for Minato to carry, they'd moved on to a ball tossing game, where the goal was to knock over a pyramid of glass bottles. Minato handed off most of the pile of plush to Theodore as he and Hamuko gave it a shot. Simultaneously, he and Hamuko pulled their arms back and threw. Minato's ball took three off the top of the tower, and he swore as he turned toward Hamuko... and saw that her tower only had one bottle standing.

"Aww, so close! You can choose one of the medium-sized prizes!" the attendant said.

"B-But..." Hamuko pouted as she pointed up to a small pink rabbit. "...I wanted the Featherman scarf..."

"If you would like, I can-" Theodore began, but Hamuko crossed her arms in an "X" in front of her.

"Nuh-uh. No way. You've won enough tonight," she said, a childish frown on her face as she rejoined them.

She was still fuming as the three of them made their way to the lotto box at the entrance of the stand. This was a game Minato remembered from the last time he'd come to the summer festival. It was pretty simple; stick your hand in, grab a ball, get a prize based on the number on the ball. Hamuko and Theodore both stepped up first and pulled balls from the top of the pile. The two of them received paper pinwheels for their effort. With a sulk, Hamuko stepped back and let Minato approach the box.

"Ready to try your hand?" the standkeep asked.

Minato stared down at the top of the box. If both Hamuko and Theodore had gotten little prizes, then the box probably hadn't been shuffled that well. Considering that, they'd probably added the winning balls in first, and then put the less valuable ones in on top. So in that case...

With a nod, Minato buried his hand into the box, groping through the pile until his fingers touched the bottom. He quickly grasped the nearest ball and pulled his hand free, a golden ball sitting in his palm.

"W-Well damn! You've won the grand prize!" the standkeeper stuttered out. Minato shrugged as the standkeeper pulled a small doll, shaped like a familiar white-and-blue fairy, out from behind the stand. He forcefully thrust it into Minato's hands. "Here ya go! One Jack Frost Doll, just for you!" Something about his eyes was telling Minato that it was a bad idea to linger much longer, so he quickly muttered a thank you and stepped away from the stand.

The next stand was a game involving rubber ducks and a pool of water, and naturally had a small crowd of children outside it. The three of them stood on the outskirts of the crowd, waiting for the children to finish up so Theodore could get his turn. After a few minutes of watching them, Minato turned toward Theodore.

"Hey, I just thought of something," Minato said. "How come no one's really noticed you so far?"

"Hm?" Theodore asked.

"Yeah, now that he mentions it, I would have expected someone to say something by now. I mean, you do kind of stick out," Hamuko stated. "What with the hair, and the eyes, and the, uh... suit."

Theodore smiled pridefully, and said, "We of the Velvet Room exist in a space between dream and reality. For those of us who occupy such a place, the distinctions between the two become blurred." One of the kids in front of them let out a cheer, causing Theodore to pause as he turned his head back toward the crowd. The child held up a duck and thrust it toward the stall runner, apparently very pleased with the result he'd gotten. "As I am a being belonging to neither realm, entering one causes the world to distort itself to accommodate my presence. In short, most people simply cannot recognize the inconsistencies between myself and others in this realm. They simply see me as... odd, yet not in a tangible manner."

"Huh," Minato said. He'd never thought of it that way before. Maybe that was just because he'd always known that Theodore and Elizabeth were somewhat strange, since he'd met them in the Velvet Room before taking them out into the real world. The line shuffled forward, clearing enough space for Theodore to take his turn at the game.

One dummy prize later, Theodore decided to rejoin them. He slipped the prize (a small, plastic alligator) into his suit pocket as he approached Minato and Hamuko.

"So, what shall we do now? I recall seeing a booth for a goldfish scooping game, as well as one where you hit small, burrowing animals with a hammer," Theodore said.

"Maybe we shouldn't do any more games tonight, okay, Theo? I don't think Igor would appreciate a new pet fish..." Hamuko offered. Minato frowned and put a hand to his chin. A goldfish, sitting in a bowl on Igor's table, wearing an appropriately sized velvet blue suit...

"Do it," Minato said, grinning.

"Don't egg him-" Hamuko started, but then turned to see Theodore already striding toward the goldfish scoop. _"THEO, NO!"_

But it was too late. Theodore had already gotten a scoop and, within seconds, pulled a goldfish from its watery home.

While Hamuko simultaneously scolded Theodore and tried to convince the stand owner to put the goldfish back, Minato wandered over to a nearby stand and waited for them. After a couple of minutes, Hamuko stomped back over, stumbled a bit, and then resumed stomping over at a much slower pace. Theodore followed meekly behind her, bowing once he reached him.

"My apologies. I did not intend to cause any trouble," Theodore said.

"Don't worry about it," Minato said. He turned back toward Hamuko, who winced as she took another step forward. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine..." Hamuko said. "I think I twisted my ankle back there..."

Theodore cleared the space between himself and Hamuko in two great strides, grasping his hand in both of his and pulling it up to chest height. "I cannot allow you to walk around the shrine with such an injury." And then he let go of her hands, spun around toward Minato, and cleared the space between them in two equally sized strides before grasping Minato's hand in the same manner. Minato's face turned beet red as Theodore leaned in. "Master Minato, is there anywhere where she might be able to sit until her ankle has healed?"

"Uh-" Minato stuttered.

"Really, Theo, I'm fine! I've had worse injuries in Tartarus!" Hamuko said hurriedly.

Once again, Theodore hurried over to Hamuko, though this time he didn't grasp at her hand. "Even so, you seem to be quite exhausted from walking as much as we have. Your perspiration levels are quite high as well. Rest is very important so that you can stay in tip-top shape!"

"Alright, alright!" Hamuko relented. "I guess I can go sit down for a bit."

"Why don't you guys find somewhere to sit, while I go get some food?" Minato offered.

"Sounds like a plan to me. What do you want, Theo?" Hamuko asked.

"Oh, anything is fine with me," he said, smiling.

"I think I saw a takoyaki stand back there," Minato said. Theodore's expression suddenly became rather hard to read, as he turned away and covered his mouth with his hand.

"Yes... the ones that will make one's cheeks fall off... such bold ingredients..." he murmured.

"Takoyaki sounds fine to me," Hamuko said. "We'll be over by the playground then!"

"Okay, I'll see you in a few," Minato said.

As he turned to leave, Theodore suddenly called out, "Wait!"

Minato turned back toward him as Theodore stepped up to him, a bulging wallet in hand. "Please, take my wallet with you. Today, I am _your_ honored guest, so I would like to be the one to pay," he said. He dropped it into Minato's outstretched hand, nearly causing Minato to fall over from the sheer force of it.

"Th-This thing weighs a ton!" Minato said.

Theodore's expression fell. "I believe I brought along sufficient funds..."

"It's more than enough," Hamuko said encouragingly, and she grabbed his hand, lightly tugging Theodore back toward her. She turned back to Minato and hissed, "Just take the money and go buy the food."

"Right. Got it," Minato said sheepishly.

He stuffed the wallet into his pants pocket and began to work his way through the through the crowd, doing his best to ignore the nagging weight in his pants pocket. It felt like his pocket was about to rip away from his pants and take the wallet with it. At least he'd know if someone tried to pickpocket him. The crowd was just as dense as it had been earlier, but he had no trouble slipping through the crowd alone. The takoyaki stand was easily found; it was a big stand at the back of the festival, shining radiantly with way more lanterns than necessary. A cartoon octopus beckoned from a sign at the front of the stall, a motorized tentacle waving visitors on their way.

As he approached the stand, he noted that there was a small crowd standing in front of it, but they didn't seem to actually be standing in line. Frowning, he made his way closer to them, as a few familiar faces became visible...

""Yur goodf! But... Ai'm bettuh!"

"I will not lose."

"Ow! Hot, hot!"

Standing in front of the stand, holding boxes of steaming hot takoyaki, were a yukata-wearing Aigis and a tracksuit-wearing teenager, his mouth stuffed to bursting. Standing just to the side were a dark-skinned girl, who was covering her face with one hand, and Mitsuru, who seemed a bit lost for words. The stall owner watched them intently from behind her counter, her head rested in one hand as she leaned over the countertop.

Grinning, Minato sidled up next to Mitsuru. "Hey, Aigis, Kaz, Yuko, Mitsuru."

"Oh, Arisato," Mitsuru said. "Miyamoto here challenged Aigis to a takoyaki-eating competition, and..."

"I'm really sorry. He just jumped right in," Yuko said, the exasperation in her voice more than obvious.

Minato leaned in a little closer to Mitsuru, and his voice dropped to a murmur. "...Is it okay if she eats that? It's not going to cause any problems with her 'insides', is it?"

"I don't think she would have agreed if it would. But perhaps it would be best to check with the chairman before allowing her to do anything like this in the future," Mitsuru said. "I'm surprised to see you here, though. Did you come with some friends?"

"Yeah, I'm picking some up for them."

"Ah, I see. Don't let me hold you up, then."

"They can wait," Minato said. He wanted to see how this would turn out. Kazushi looked like he was at his limit; his face had turned red and was dripping with sweat, and he could hardly breathe for how stuffed his mouth was. Meanwhile, Aigis showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

"You're... really givin' it... all you got, huh?" Kazushi said through a stuffed mouth.

"Perseverance is the secret to all triumphs."

Yuko lt out another loud sigh from behind her hand. The situation was so ridiculous that the longer Minato watched this, the wider his grin was getting. He leaned over toward Mitsuru again and said, "I think she'll do just fine at school."

Mitsuru blinked and turned her head toward him. "I don't recall the Chairman sharing that he was considering enrolling her at Gekkoukan..."

"I guessed. She's been asking about school stuff a lot, so I figured something was going on."

"I see..." Mitsuru said, narrowing her eyes in disbelief. Just as she opened her mouth again, there was an anguished cry from Kazushi. The two of them turned to see Kazushi slumped over in defeat, Aigis holding an empty box in hand, and Yuko now covering her face with both hands.

"I admit defeat... I never thought I'd meet someone faster than Hayase! That's in, you've gotta join our track team! I'm sure we'll definitely beat him during the winter competition with you on our side!" Kazushi said, grinning.

"K-Kaz, you idiot! You don't even know if she goes to our school!" Yuko cried out.

"I'd better go," Minato said. He slipped behind Mitsuru toward the takoyaki stand as Yuko pushed her way in between Kazushi and Aigis, sternly admonishing Kazushi while simultaneously apologizing to Aigis and Mitsuru.

The stand owner lifted her head as Minato approached and cheerily greeted him. Once his order was ready, Minato hefted the wallet onto the counter and flicked open the pouch's latch. This was a mistake.

Immediately, the walls of the wallet collapsed downward, causing a veritable river of coins to spill forth from the wallet's insides. Minato quickly reached his hands forward, grasping around the sides to try and stem the flow, but it was too late; the floodgates had broken, and now there was nothing but yen upon yen flooding the counter-top. He desperately glanced over his shoulder to see that the group of four had become distracted by the sound of clattering coin, all staring at him with bewildered judgment. Desperately, Minato reached for the clasp and finally snapped it closed, bringing an end to his horror.

 _God dammit, Theodore!_ Minato thought with a hint of embarrassment as he scooped the coins that remained into a pile, and began to count out the change from there. He could still feel everyone's eyes on him as he counted out twenty thousand yen's worth of coinage, and finally pushed it toward the salesperson.

As Minato beat a quick retreat from the stand, his bag and Theodore's impossible wallet in hand, he caught a bit of whispered conversation as he passed by Aigis and Mitsuru.

"Aigis, are you actually able to eat...?"

"Negative."

* * *

He found Hamuko and Theodore exactly where they'd said they'd be, the two of them seated on a bench at the other end of the playground, Theodore's hard-earned goods taking up the rest of the bench space between them. As Minato approached, he noticed that they hadn't noticed his approach, and seemed to be talking about something...

"Okay, I've answered your questions up until now. Now you've gotta answer one for me," Hamuko said. Quickly, Minato slipped into the shadow of the playset, so he couldn't be so easily seen. "You've mentioned that you've got siblings. I wanna know a little more about them. Please?"

"Ah... I'm not sure I should share too many details about them," Theodore admitted. "My siblings work for my master, just as I do. Their names are Margaret and Elizabeth. They are... quite cruel to me sometimes."

"Yeah, I've gotten that impression," Hamuko said, giggling.

"They are merely pranks, of course! But it can be a bit frustrating. Especially when they insist on interfering when I am trying to do work."

Hamuko giggled again, holding a lightly curled hand to her mouth. "So I guess they live in the Velvet Room with you and Igor?"

"I think that talking about that may be overstepping my bounds as an attendant. I hesitate to think what my master may do if I were to speak such secrets..." Theodore said. Hamuko's mouth curled into a pout, and she leaned in a bit, causing Theodore to quickly stutter out, "B-But I do not think he would mind me telling you a little about Margaret. While she works under my master, she does not currently work inside the Velvet Room. Her duties are conducted elsewhere for the moment."

"What about Elizabeth?" Hamuko asked, her expression becoming serious.

"Ah..." Theodore placed a hand on his chest. "Why... do you ask?"

"It's just... her name sounds familiar somehow. I swear, I've heard it somewhere before..."

 _Oh crap,_ Minato thought as he stepped out from behind the jungle gym, clearing his throat as he did. Hamuko's whole body flinched back into place as she turned toward him.

"Geez, you scared me!"

"Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt." Minato held up the bag. "I got the takoyaki."

"Ooh!" Hamuko held her hands out, and Minato gladly placed a box in them, before handing another to Theodore. He pulled Theodore's wallet from his pocket and handed that back to him next, glad to be free of the burden. Once everything was handed out, Minato moved so he was standing next to them and began eating from his box. Theodore and Hamuko seemed pretty focused on their food now, so hopefully they wouldn't go back to the painful line of conversation they'd previously been on.

 _I wonder if Theodore hates me,_ Minato thought. Igor seemed to; it was hard to get a read on how Igor felt about anything, with how perfectly professional he was during Minato's visits to the Velvet Room, but there'd definitely been a bit of antagonism there. But Igor was just Elizabeth's employer. Theodore had been her _brother_ , and if Igor was that mad about how things had gone down, then Theodore had to be doubly so.

His gaze wandered over to Theodore's face. But for all of that, he'd never shown it, not once. If Theodore was really angry at him, then he felt like he should have seen some sign of it, just as he had with Igor. But he never had. All he'd ever heard was a hint of sorrow in his voice when he talked to him.

Not that he could really blame Theodore and Igor for hating him, if they did. Elizabeth had apparently sacrificed herself to bring him back, and all he'd done since then was struggle for a solution, constantly failing to find any way to move forward. Even his attempts to keep at least one of the Arcana Shadows from dying had ended in failure. So what could he do now...?

"You seem troubled."

Minato looked up, and let out a yell as he flinched back. While he'd been lost in his thoughts, Theodore had suddenly stood up and moved so he was standing right in front of Minato. Theodore flinched away as well, gaining a rather guilty expression as he moved back.

"Please excuse my prying. But you suddenly gained an expression that does not befit the occasion," Theodore said.

"Sorry. It's nothing," Minato said.

"I see," Theodore said. He walked back to the bench and sat down next to Hamuko again. She looked up at Minato with a concerned look on her face, and for a moment, Minato and Hamuko's eyes locked, before he looked away.

"Wh-What is it?"

"Uh, well..." She forced a grin onto her face. "You going to eat that?"

"Huh?" Minato looked down. Hamuko was pointing to his untouched box of takoyaki. His eyes wandered over to her box, which was completely empty. _Already?_ he thought, and handed it over to her. "Go right ahead."

Grinning, Hamuko speared three of the octopus balls on a skewer and scarfed them down just as quickly. Minato leaned his head back and stared off into the sky. Actually, now that he thought about it… "Do you know if they're going to be doing fireworks tonight?"

"I think they're going to be doing them over the bay. Something about city regulations meaning they can't fire them off within city limits," Hamuko said. "I think they should be pretty soon, though. Do we wanna get going before they start?"

"Sure. Theodore, is that fine with you?" Minato asked.

"Fireworks… a wondrous explosion of phosphorous and color, creating bright, quickly burning stars in the night sky… yes, I have heard of such things. I will gladly accompany you," Theodore said, standing up. Hamuko clapped her hands together and stood up, knocking two empty boxes to the ground as she did so.

"Alright, let's get going! Um, Minato, can you get those? I can't bend over in this."

"Seriously?" He walked over to the boxes and began to scoop them into his arms. Hamuko scurried around the boxes and began walking back toward the festival. Once she was out of earshot, Minato grumbled, "She must have that tied too tight. There's no reason she should be having that much trouble with it…"

"Minato."

"Huh?" Minato looked up to see Theodore standing over him. He pulled the boxes close to him as he stood up.

Theodore stood on his toes for a moment to look over Minato, and then turned back toward him. There was a serious expression on his face. "I wish to speak with you in private, just for a moment. Considering recent events, I feel it would be remiss not to bring this to your attention."

Minato frowned. "Go ahead."

"You recall when I mentioned why no one notices my existence in this world? In truth, I left out a detail from that. Your existence is not so different from my own and my master's. Must of the reason you have not encountered trouble here is because most people cannot sense that you are not of it," Theodore explained with a sober expression.

"...But Shadows can," Minato said quietly. _And Chidori too._

Theodore nodded. "Yes... furthermore, your existence in this world is weak. You should take care not to do anything that may strain it further." He leaned in closer to Minato, and his voice dropped to a murmur. "In particular, I would advice against repeating your actions with Arcana Emperor a few weeks past."

Minato's gaze fell to his feet. "Right. I understand."

"Hey, are you guys gonna hurry up? We're gonna miss the fireworks!" Hamuko's voice called across the park.

"Coming!" Minato answered.

The two of them hurried after Hamuko, Minato dropping the empty takoyaki boxes in a trash can near the festival gate as they passed through it. The crowd was already abandoning the festival, flowing down the streets toward the Moonlight Bridge. Hamuko led them toward the bay, and once they reached the bridge, the three of them wormed their way through the gathered crowd until they were close to the railing.

"How long until it starts?" Minato asked.

"Should be any time now..." Hamuko said. She pulled her phone from her obi and squinted down at the time on the phone's outside screen. "No, it should be right..."

At that moment, a high pitched hiss rang through the air, and the crowd looked up just as the first fireworks exploded. Stars of color burst out in myriad shapes above the bay, crackling in shades of white, red, blue, and yellow. Theodore's eyes widened and he edged his way forward, staring up at the fireworks with glittering eyes. Minato couldn't help but crack a smile at the sight.

"Glad to see you smiling for once," Hamuko chided.

"Huh?" Minato turned to see her grinning widely at him.

"I think this is the first time I've actually seen you enjoy yourself with anything," Hamuko said. She clasped her hands together behind her back. "It worries me, you know? I can kind of get why you're so anxious, but I think you should let loose sometimes."

"I... don't think you can really understand them," Minato said. "But thanks. Try not to work too hard, okay?"

"Hey, you were the one who was all like, _'Hamuko should totally be the leader, you guys!'_ Don't start deciding I can't handle it now!"

"Hehe..." Minato stared up into the sky. He could feel his anxieties nagging at him, and he couldn't quite push them away. There was still so much he had to prepare for. So many things he still needed to figure out, even after all of this time. But for a moment, he felt like he could just let them wash away. Just standing here under these stars, staring up at the fireworks as they went off, all of that stuff just felt so far away...

Several fireworks went off at once, signaling the end of the show, and the crowd began to disperse. Theodore stared up at the sky confusedly, and once he realized what was going on, he took a step back, and then turned back toward Minato and Hamuko.

"Thank you very much for showing me one of your festivals today. To learn of such things... it is a rare opportunity indeed," Theodore said. He placed his hand over his chest and bowed to the two of them, before straightening up and turning toward Hamuko. "I do not wish to keep you out so late tonight, so I believe I shall be off."

"Do you need me to show you back to the Velvet Room?" Hamuko asked.

"I believe I can find my way back there on my own. Perhaps we can explore your world again on another day," Theodore said. He bowed again, and then turned to walk away, sliding between the dispersing crowd as he walked down the sidewalk.

"He's going to get himself arrested," Minato said.

"Probably." Hamuko pressed a couple fingers to her forehead, sighed, and then turned back toward Minato. "I guess we should head back too."

"Just don't trip over your yukata again," Minato said. Hamuko's face twisted into a pout, she gave a huff, and then walked ahead of him with very tiny steps. Shaking his head, Minato followed after her, the two of them striding back into the Iwatodai streetlights together.


End file.
